The European project STEEL S4EV (Acronym for "Steel Solutions for Safe and Smart Structures of Electric Vehicles") has among its main objectives the development of the use of the latest generation of high-strength steels in the production of frames for small electric vehicles with three and four wheels for urban mobility. The massive use of high-strength steels for the structural part is for the benefit of passive safety (excellent results), recyclability and optimized costs.
MA's main involvement in the project lies in the choice and definition of use of these high strength steels also lowered in the individual components of the archetypal frame and its modularity.
Thanks to his decades of experience both in the construction of structural components (under-body) and body in white (BIW) as well as in-depth knowledge of materials, MA has contributed to the definition of vehicle design and welded jointing techniques. In this perspective, in addition to supporting the prestigious European partner institutes of the project during the characterization steps, MA has dedicated itself to evaluating the best technologies currently available by suggesting low-cost solutions.
This aim was pursued to minimize the environmental impact (recyclability) of the frames and welding technologies on the estimate of the entire life cycle of the vehicle (through LCA) without compromising the functionality, durability and safety of the vehicle itself.
The S4EV consortium is made up of various R&D companies and institutes:
• Cidaut (coordinator) https://www.cidaut.es/en
• I-Fevs http://www.ifevs.com/
• LTU https://www.ltu.se/?l=en
• IBS www.bil-ibs.be/en
• Thinkstep - Sphera https://www.thinkstep.com
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Examples of the 3 and 4 wheel versions