As a partner of the automotive industry, fka offers innovative engineering services. fka understands the vehicle as a complete physical, energetic and informational system and develops specialized and interdisciplinary solutions. fka’s services range from conception, simulation and design of vehicles, systems and components to prototype construction and testing. The departments of chassis, body, powertrain, E/E and automated driving, which are oriented towards the classic vehicle domains, work closely together with the cross-domain areas of strategy & consulting, vehicle concepts, acoustics, thermal management, and user experience.
How do new vehicle concepts, increasing electrification and automation impact vehicle body structures? Which methods can be used to enhance materials and structural efficiency? How can we improve safety? Thanks to our expertise for layout and design as well as our overall understanding of the entire vehicle, we research these and other questions.
In the context of energy efficiency, safety, and driving experience, the focus of the Vehicle Concept and Body Department is set on the development of optimised, safe and lightweight vehicle structures.
The range of services includes material characterization, the qualification of suitable simulation methods, numerical optimization and CAD design.
In addition to occupant protection, development activities also focus on compatibility and pedestrian protection as well as vehicle aerodynamics.
An interior and exterior crash test facility, two drop tower test benches and a pedestrian protection test rig, as well as test rigs for vibration and NVH analysis, serve to qualify materials and components and to validate the applied simulation tools.
Component, system and overall vehicle benchmarking is also part of the fka portfolio
epsilon, a lightweight body structure for a small electric vehicle
Within the epsilon project, an innovative electric vehicle concept specifically designed for the typical transport tasks in urban areas has been designed and prototyped. The epsilon vehicle is considerably lighter, more energy-efficient and requires less road space than today’s sub-compact cars, still offering the same level of safety. Compared to powered two-wheelers, epsilon provides higher safety, transport capacity and driving comfort in all weather conditions. Offering at the same time an appealing driving performance at affordable costs, the epsilon vehicle addresses not only the ecological and societal, but also the economic dimension of sustainable mobility, defining a new vehicle class by closing the gap between powered two-wheelers, ultralight vehicles (L7e) and conventional passenger cars (M1).
Three seats, all-weather comfort
Euro NCAP safety performance
Weight < 600 kg
Acceleration 0-100 km/h 150 km
High energy efficiency (< 80 Wh/km)
CFRP and Aluminium spaceframe
Injection moulded exterior panels
Closed-mould vacuum infusion
Closed cell foam core
Running prototype vehicle
Centro Ricerche Fiat SCPA, Virtual Vehicle Institute, Autoliv, HPLP, TU Graz, Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika) of RWTH Aachen University, Axon Automotive Ltd, Fraunhofer LBF
Material characterisation and modeling
Innovative material and process technologies
Contact details
Dr.-Ing. Nico Depner
+49 241 8861 223
www.fka.de
52074 Aachen
Germany
