Development of sustainable composite sandwich-panels using recycled and renewable materials for vehicle chassis construction at high volumes.

我们与Innovate UK合作的项目将开发一种新的可持续复合夹层板结构，用于车辆的主要结构，如底盘。我们的创新在于我们使用的材料、制造的设计和施工的方法。复合材料是由2个或更多独立的部分组成的材料，在这种情况下，是一种高强度纤维和一种树脂，一旦硬化就会变硬并增强。复合夹心板是一种结构，由两片薄的复合材料夹在轻质芯的两侧，从而在非常低的重量下获得极高的刚度。我们创新的夹层板技术使用可持续的英国材料。这种复合纤维材料是其他行业制造过程中的废物，通常作为不可生物降解的废物被填埋。使用废料大大降低了我们的材料成本，减少了85%-95%。这一点很重要，因为它使复合材料夹芯板的大规模商业生产成为现实。目前的汽车制造成本很高，无论是在经济上还是在排放方面。我们使用可回收的轻质材料，不仅在制造过程中，而且在使用过程中，都降低了成本和排放，因为车辆重量越轻，排放就越少，行驶里程也越长。通过使用平面夹心板而不是单体结构，我们减少了对专业设备的需求，减少了产生废塑料的额外消耗品和过度的劳动力。这些改变意味着我们进一步减少了生产的排放，并进一步降低了生产的投入成本。尽管这些材料是可回收的/可持续的，而且它们的应用成本比标准材料低得多，但我们可以用它们来制造一种比普通车辆具有更高刚度重量比的最终产品。这意味着它们比传统的金属生产方法更轻，更坚固。这些材料和生产方法将证明其可持续性和可负担性与我们的第一款产品的发布，Elecy。Elecy是一款安全的4轮电动自行车，采用封闭式车身，提供汽车的舒适性，排放量比自行车低90%。Elecy将比我们最接近的竞争对手Podbike的Frikar四轮电动自行车轻50%，从而证明了我们的流程效率。一旦得到证实，我们愿意帮助推广这项技术的使用，因为我们相信这为可持续发展、低影响的汽车工业提供了一条途径。

Our project with Innovate UK will develop a new and sustainable composite sandwich panel construction, for primary vehicle structures, like the chassis. Our innovation is in the materials we are using, the design for manufacture and the method we use for construction.A composite is a material made up of 2 or more separate parts, in this case a high strength fibre and a resin which stiffens and strengthens it once hardened. A composite sandwich panel is a structure made from two thin sheets of composite material sandwiched on either side of a lightweight core resulting in extremely high stiffness for very low weight.Our innovative sandwich panel technology uses sustainable UK materials. This composite fibre material is waste from manufacturing processes in other industries and would usually go to landfill as non-biodegradable waste. Using waste materials significantly reduces our materials cost, by 85%-95%. This is important, as it makes large/commercial scale production of composite sandwich panels a viable reality.Current vehicle manufacture is costly, both monetarily and emission-wise. Our use of recycled lightweight materials reduces cost and emissions both during manufacture but also during use, as lower vehicle weight gives lower emissions and increased range. By using flat sandwich panels rather than monocoque construction we reduce the need for specialist equipment, extra consumables that produce waste plastic, and excessive labour. These alterations mean we have further cut the emissions of our production and reduced the input costs for manufacture even more.Even though these materials are recycled/sustainable, and the application of them is possible at a considerably lower cost than standard materials, we can use them to create an end product that has a higher stiffness to weight ratio than that of normal vehicles. That means that they are lighter, and stronger than they would be with conventional metal production methods.These materials and method of production will prove their sustainability and affordability with the release of our first product, the Elecy. The Elecy is a safe 4-wheeled ebike with an enclosed body, offering the comfort of a car with the \>90% lower emissions of bicycles. The Elecy will be 50% lighter than our closest competitor, Podbike's Frikar 4-wheeled ebike thereby proving the efficiency of our process.Once proved, we would like to help spread the use of this technology, as we believe this provides a route to a sustainable, low-impact automotive industry.