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Digital Prototyping- Shaving off Development Time and Costs for Car Models

Monthly Archives: October 2015

Digital Prototyping- Shaving off Development Time and Costs for Car Models

Nowadays, digital prototyping or computer stimulation has created a buzz in the automotive industry worldwide. Every automaker from big tycoons to beginners is utilizing this technology and integrating it into their car-testing procedures to get better results. Computer simulation for crash testing, aerodynamics and fuel economy is cutting off the time it takes to develop a new vehicle, which helps automaker save millions.

According to research by analysts IHS Automotive – digital prototyping has significantly helped reduce the development time of a new model from 36 months to 24 months compared with the 1990s. “The obvious benefits are lower costs, time savings and freshness of the product portfolio,” IHS senior manager Matteo Fini said.

“Crash simulation is done over a maximum of two days nowadays, and that has taken the time out of the development cycle,” Epple told Automotive News Europe. With each prototype costing about 500,000 pounds (about 685,000 euros), that reduction has saved a lot of money. The JLR executive added that it also has improved crash performance: “Now you can hit a wall at 50 mph and leave the car without being injured.”

What is Digital Prototyping?

Digital prototyping is an extension of creating product designs in 3D. This advanced technology lets professionals from engineering and manufacturing sectors to virtually explore the complete product before it is built. It enables engineers to design, optimize, validate and visualize a product digitally throughout its development process, which helps them to determine whether or not the product will fail or how it will work under given circumstances.

Audi Plans to Offer all its Cars with Plug-in Technology


Comprehending the prominence of electric cars, Audi the German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, has planned to introduce the technology in its future models. The automaker is currently investing in its new Tesla Model X-rivalling Q6 SUV, which is previewed by Frankfurt’s e-tron Quattro concept. The European production of the car is scheduled for 2018.

The model is primarily designed for the US and Chinese markets, and it will also complement Germany’s prospective fast charge infrastructure.
The car is designed to offer drivers a usable 250-mile range in just 30 minutes. It will also introduce a scalable solution that gives car owners a choice of batteries ranging from 60kWh to 95kWh (it is the fastest and most expensive yet most efficient solution, offering a total electric-only range of up to 310 miles, and 0-62mph in less than four seconds.

Dr Ulrich Hackenberg—Board Member for Technical Development of AUDI AG – said, “We’ll use this car to introduce technology to our customers. We will cover all our cars with plug-in technology. More or less every [Audi] drivetrain can be electrified.”

The company is working on technologies like the active aerodynamics and virtual mirrors to get a drag coefficient as low as 0.25cd.
If reports are to be believed, the plug-in e-tron version (of Q5, Q7 and A8) will be available by 2016; while the electric SUV (dubbed Q6) will be available in 2018.