Electric cars are growing more and more and their technology is advancing at a good pace. But there are still some drawbacks that limit its competitiveness. Is this Leap Motor solution the ultimate answer?
Although it is becoming more and more competitive and in fact already supposes the main mobility option For millions of people, the electric car still has some challenges ahead.
And we are not only referring to issues as relevant as autonomy, the availability of reliable and efficient charging points or price. On this occasion we talk about the philosophy of vehicles as a competitive product compared to their thermal counterparts.
Weight and size
And it is that, for an electric car to provide competitive performance and autonomy, it is essential that it has large batteries that make it possible.
This means that electric vehicles are heavy and require a large space to house these batteries, with the limitations of interior space that this entails. Not only that, there is also a some limitation of autonomysince the aforementioned space available to incorporate battery cells (the floor of the car) is limited.
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But Leapmotor promises to eliminate these inconveniences thanks to the creation of a chassis-battery. Or, more specifically, a chassis with the batteries incorporated into it, forming part of the structure itself and not as an addition to it at its base.
5 advantages and a disadvantage of the chassis-battery
The Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicles affirms that this technology has several advantages that give this type of car a competitiveness never seen before. The pillars of his claim are as follows:
- 20% less than weight compared to a chassis with conventional batteries
- 10% increase in autonomy by increasing battery space by 14.5%
- The torsional stiffness of the chassis increases by 25%
- Less noise and vibration with the vehicle running
- slight increase in interior space (10mm)
This idea has already been explored in a more timid way by other manufacturers. In fact, Tesla publicly commented on the possibility in 2020, also noting a reduction in production costs with this technique.
What neither Leapmotor nor Tesla clarify is what would happen when the batteries degrade to the point of having to be replaced. Something that, with current technology, usually occurs after 10 years and depending on the conditions of use of each vehicle.
In any case, this is not going to prevent Leapmotor from going further, since in fact it has already scheduled the presentation of the first car with a battery-chassis. Its about C01, a sedan 5 meters long and 700 km. of autonomy (NEDC cycle – 90 kWh battery) that will be presented during the second half of 2022.
Photos: Leapmotor