Next generation car – Lightweight design through function integration in vehicle structures

The „Next Generation Car” (NGC) project combines the research activities of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the area of road vehicles. The aim is the development of vehicle concepts and structures, with a high energy efficiency. Under the roof of NGC the DLR develops different vehicle concepts. The concepts have different aims and requirements, e.g. driving distance, number of passengers or maximum speed and should give answers for future vehicle structures. The challenge is to fulfill opposed requirements, e.g. mechanical performance (e.g. crash) and economical values (e.g. costs). At the example of the concept of the „Safe Light Regional Vehicle“ (SLRV) we will show the development of a light and safe body in white (BIW) structure. The BIW realizes special requirements, e.g. packaging, fatigue strength, stiffness and crash performance within a 2 passenger vehicle concept with a mass lower than 500 kg. The BIW design is a sandwich structure with a resulting structural mass of only 90 kg. Simulations indicate that the crash performance is very good, even if the mass of the BIW is so light. The simulations are validated by component crash tests. The result will be shown in this paper.