I don't know if you remember the four-wheel drive toys you played when you were a child, for many post-80s and post-90s, four-wheel drive cars are popular good toys, especially for children who like cars, four-wheel drive vehicles have realized their dreams of assembling cars and modifying cars by themselves. The inspiration for the design of the four-wheel drive at that time was the non-load-bearing body design derived from the earliest car, which separated the shell from the chassis, the shell was only responsible for the handsome, and the chassis assumed multiple roles such as batteries, motors, and axles.
Who would have thought that the most avant-garde "skateboard platform" on today's electric pickup trucks has a very high degree of similarity with the four-wheel drive car of that year.
Of course, the concept of the skateboard platform and the design of the four-wheel drive toy are inspired by the earliest car design, in fact, from the first real mass production of the Ford T-car appeared, the car is non-carrier body, non-carrier body can be simply understood as a shell plus frame composition of the structure, and such a structure is actually inherited from the design of the carriage at that time, and for the car manufacturers at that time, the non-carrier body can realize the separate production and manufacture of frame and shell. Facilitates large-scale production of production lines. Moreover, there was always fierce competition among many manufacturers in the United States at that time, which required continuous upgrading and modification of the chassis on the frame, that is, the cab, and the non-load-bearing body could achieve this process without moving the chassis. The design concept of separating the frame and the shell, 100 years later, has become a new proposition in the electric vehicle industry, some people say that fashion is a reincarnation, perhaps the concept and design are always standing on the shoulders of predecessors.
Who pioneered the idea of a "skateboard platform"?
In fact, according to the available data, the earliest manufacturers to propose a concept similar to the "skateboard platform" and connect with new energy vehicles are GM, and in 2002 GM proposed a concept called "AUTOnomy", which is a self-driving car and is powered by hydrogen fuel cells. At that time, GM put forward the concept of "skateboard" chassis, and the key to "skateboard platform" is to integrate all components into the chassis as much as possible, so as to truly realize that the chassis does not have to change, and the shell can be changed at will.
What exactly is a "skateboard platform"?
As mentioned above, the skateboard platform is exactly the same as the chassis of the four-wheel drive car, the battery, power transmission, motor, control unit and a series of components must all be integrated on the chassis, and the skateboard platform is born from the non-carrier body, so we take the Chassis of the Rivian R1T as an example, you can clearly see the trapezoidal frame structure, but the trapezoidal frame of the non-loader body is different, the skateboard chassis divides the chassis into three parts: front suspension, intermediate battery compartment and rear suspension. Three more parts are stitched together to achieve a true skateboard shape.
Compared with the structure and layout of traditional electric vehicles, because of the weight difference between the front and rear suspensions and the battery in the center, the skateboard platform can achieve better weight distribution, which helps to improve the handling of the vehicle and provide more ample driving space in the hull. It is precisely by integrating the battery in the center of the chassis that the skateboard platform has higher requirements for the battery and requires a more compact and flat battery module. On the other hand, the skateboard platform can gradually transition the previous axle motor to the wheel motor, especially for models that need off-road capabilities, the wheel motor can understand that each wheel is driven separately, with a four-wheel drive system, which can enable the vehicle to obtain a strong ability to get rid of difficulties, bearing capacity and power level.
However, at present, most manufacturers will generally use a three-motor design, taking the Hummer EV pickup truck as an example, its rear axle is a double-wheel motor, the front axle is a shaft motor, so the car is equipped with two differential locks at the front and rear, but in fact, the front axle is indeed equipped with a differential and an electronically controlled differential lock, and the rear axle is a double-wheeled motor, when you press the rear differential lock button, the computer only maintains the speed of the two rear wheels consistent.
So what are the advantages of the "skateboard platform"?
The purpose of this on the one hand can save costs, so that the same skateboard platform can be assembled into a variety of models from compact cars to medium and large cars, to full-size pickup trucks and even off-road vehicles, and "scaling" is the first significant feature of the skateboard platform. At the same time, while saving costs, it can also increase production capacity and achieve large-scale mass production. Because for the chassis of traditional cars or pickup trucks, the wheelbase may only be changed by 15 centimeters, but it means redesigning the drive shaft, changing the center of gravity of the vehicle, and making new adjustments to the suspension, according to the industry's internal technicians, the cost of such changes may be as high as hundreds of millions of dollars, and the development time is about 5 years.
From the production level, the skateboard platform will no longer need to spend expensive money to build factories around the world, the shell and chassis can be developed and produced separately, and the manufacturer only needs to go to the production site for assembly. At the repair and maintenance level, the skateboard platform enables modular component replacement and a faster replacement process, which simplifies inventory and improves supply chain efficiency at dealerships.
From the design level, the design of the whole vehicle will not be left by the engine and gearbox, electronic control system, steering system, thermal management system, brakes, suspension, etc. can achieve the best space layout, for the steering wheel and other controllers, can even be placed at any end of the platform, or in the middle. Like GM's earliest concept car, there are controls at both ends of the platform, want to reverse? The driver just needs to change the direction of the seat.
Why is the "skateboard platform" suitable for pickup trucks?
First of all, pickup trucks have experienced so many years of development, although in recent years blowing up the wave of carrier-type body, but the non-carrier body is still the mainstream of the current global pickup truck market, so for how to produce non-carrier models, no one knows more about this process than pickup truck manufacturers, and no one will know how to separate the "shell" and "chassis" than pickup truck manufacturers to produce and develop, and derive a variety of pickup trucks on the same chassis.
Second, the most advanced wheel motor technology today integrates all key components, including motors, steering, braking, suspension and control systems, on the inside of the hub, providing maximum flexibility for the design of the rest. At the same time, pickup truck models often need strong off-road capabilities and strong loading capacity, because the skateboard platform will gradually take the wheel side motor as the mainstream in the future, which will naturally improve the power performance and passing ability of the whole vehicle.
For example, the Skateboard platform of the Rivian R1T is an extremely powerful off-road pickup truck, which adopts a dual motor setting on the shaft, but still uses a dual motor unit mounted on each axis in the chassis. The front axle has a maximum torque of 310kW and a maximum torque of 559 Nm, while the rear axle has a maximum power of 313 kW and a maximum torque of 670 Nm. And for pickup trucks, it will be easier to arrange independent electronically controlled suspension or air suspension systems after applying the skateboard platform to improve comfort and off-road capabilities.
Finally, the excellent scaling ability of the skateboard platform can be realized from compact pickups, to medium-sized pickups, and then to full-size pickups, but only one chassis is enough, and the modular design of the skateboard platform only needs to consider the load capacity of the chassis alone, no matter how large the shell can provide sufficient traction and drag capacity, which is very suitable for pickup products. Not only that, according to the author's understanding, at present, in order to make the skateboard platform as flat as possible, the company in the United States has also designed a composite leaf spring suspension, two glass fiber leaf springs are installed horizontally in the front and rear end of the platform, on the one hand, it will not occupy the space of the cargo box, on the other hand, for the current domestic market fire of flat-bottomed cargo box products, you can really achieve a lower cargo table after the flat bottom, convenient for the goods up and down, not to cock the butt.
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