Faster EV Development Time With Modular Design
Accelerate bold, real-world EV solutions — smarter and more sustainably — with modular design on the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform.
The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is charging ahead. Fueled by advanced technologies, strict sustainability mandates and evolving customer expectations, the question is no longer if EV companies can adapt, but how they can thrive without compromising quality or profitability.
The solution? Modular design powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform. This game-changing approach unleashes agility, speed and precision to turn bold, new ideas into real-world solutions. It empowers companies to navigate engineering complexities, drive innovation and accelerate EV development time like never before.
Why modular design matters
Innovative designs:
Create bold, innovative, customer-centric designs that stand out from competition
Adaptability:
Adapt quickly to market demands with flexible, interchangeable components
Cost efficiency:
Reuse core elements across different vehicle models to cut production costs and time
Discover how modular design is redefining the EV landscape in our exclusive white paper in collaboration with engineering.com.
Modular Design for Mobility
How automakers save production time and costs with modular design.
A Unified Approach to EV Development
Dassault Systèmes' model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform transforms modular design by creating a unified environment for seamless integration across intricate multidisciplinary systems. This approach addresses engineering challenges, battery requirements and regulatory constraints while driving innovation at speed.
Combined with software-defined vehicle (SDV) capabilities on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, EV companies gain a design to engineering continuity to accelerate:
- Battery range optimization: Simulate and optimize thermal management, weight reduction and energy efficiency while meeting weight and safety standards.
- Lightweight design: Efficiently source for advanced composite materials and structural analysis to reduce overall vehicle weight while maintaining durability and performance.
- Charging infrastructure innovation: Virtually test new solutions to meet demands for faster EV charging speed.
- Efficient scalability: Drive cost-effective development cycles while creating a scalable and flexible environment.
- Sustainable innovation: Virtually assess all materials, energy consumption and environmental impact throughout the product life cycle.
Full Throttle Ahead with MBSE
Traditional, rigid processes can't keep pace with the growing demand for modular and scalable EV designs. With MBSE, however, EV startups are empowered to scale operations efficiently without overstretching their resources, while established EV companies can modernize legacy systems to stay competitive.
Real-time collaboration across teams breaks down silos and enhances problem-solving. Teams can simulate performance, identify issues early and optimize designs before physical prototyping — saving time and costs. At every development stage, data-driven insights empower smarter decisions, optimizing outcomes and accelerating innovation while unlocking the full potential of modular design in EV development.
Drive Sustainable Initiatives
As sustainability becomes increasingly critical, our platform offers tools to prioritize sustainability without compromising performance and costs. Companies can achieve:
- Material optimization: Select and evaluate environmental-friendly materials that emit the least environmental impact.
- Waste reduction: Streamline manufacturing processes, which reduces scrap and promotes reuse.
- Energy efficiency: Optimize energy consumption to enhance vehicle performance and lower carbon emissions.
By embedding sustainability into the core development process, companies can deliver EVs that comply with strict regulatory requirements at speed and scale.
The Path Forward
The future of EV development belongs to those ready to reimagine their processes and embrace transformative solutions. A modular approach powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform unlocks unparalleled agility, collaboration and innovation, quickly turning bold, visionary ideas into market-ready solutions. Here are how some industry leaders shaped their future of mobility with us.
Modular Design in Action
Neta Auto
Vision: Compete in a price-sensitive market while delivering high-quality EVs.
Result: Saved €1.3 million in research and development costs.
Harbinger Truck
Vision: Scale production while meeting strict safety, environmental and cost targets.
Result: Redesigned chassis structure for scalability, saving significant cost and time.
River Mobility
Vision: Launch innovative, urban e-scooters quickly with optimized energy efficiency and performance.
Result: Reduced time to market to just 20 months with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud.
Bold Valuable Technology
Vision: Transition faster to modular manufacturing for a new line of high-performance EV batteries.
Result: Achieved faster delivery while exceeding sustainability goals, from concept to production.
Explore our Industry Solution Experiences
Find out how our industry solutions can help companies accelerate battery development, from cell innovation to gigafactory scale-up.
1Source: International Energy Agency
Key Answers to Accelerating EV Development Time
As electric vehicles (EVs) become more widespread, customer expectations in range, performance, price and lifestyle integration will continue to evolve. EV companies must offer a full range of vehicles, from economy cars to commercial vehicles and high-end luxury transportation. Across all these segments, customers will expect their EVs to be fully integrated with their digital lifestyles.
EVs inherently offer a great deal of advantages over traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. These advantages include smooth, powerful acceleration, a clean fueling experience and enhanced user experiences through improvements via over-the-air updates. To meet these demands, EV companies need to overcome several challenges, such as increasing travel range between charges, incorporating new materials, systems and emerging regulations relative to recycling or repurposing, and fully integrating vehicle hardware and software.
By 2035, it is estimated that one in four vehicles¹ on the road will be electric. Despite gaining traction, EV adoption still has its challenges, with four key barriers being range, cost, charging time and charging accessibility. To address these, EV companies are aggressively developing technologies to provide over 400 miles of range availability with sub-twenty-minute charging cycles at any available charging location. New developments will also seek to drive down battery costs, as they account for 35% or more of the vehicle's cost, and significantly simplify EV architecture, leveraging software to enhance transportation experience.
EV vehicle development is still in its infancy. In the future, we can expect significant technical improvements in energy storage solutions, such as solid-state batteries, and manufacturing simplification that facilitates scale and customization. Innovative materials will be used to address lightweighting and sustainability, while vehicle architectures will fully leverage emerging software advancements. Additionally, expansion into ICE-dominated markets will continue.