Last week, to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of its largest vehicle research facility outside of Germany, Volkswagen Group unveiled a vintage VW Bus retrofitted with some of the leading-edge technologies they feel will be significant for the future of the industry. With a focus on maximizing strength while minimizing weight, Autodesk collaborated with VW’s newly renamed Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC) to reconceptualize several components of the electric-infused technical showcase vehicle.
“We’re combining a classic Volkswagen design with fresh ideas and innovative technologies from collaborative partners like Autodesk,” said Nikolai Reimer, executive director of IECC. “It’s an exciting opportunity to see what we can come up with and to create a cool show car as a tribute to everything we believe in.”
One of the critical aspects of designing electric vehicles is finding weight savings wherever possible because the less an automobile weighs, the less energy required to propel it down the road. And more efficient energy consumption equates to greater range per charge, one of the most important considerations for consumers when evaluating electric vehicles.