Toronto, Ontario — The fast onset of electric vehicles in the collision repair industry has left many techs scrambling to get up to date with the changing technology and body surrounding this new form of powertrain—Ford is hoping to change that, starting with a recent presentation delving into the body restructuring of the 2021 Mustang Mach-E.
It may seem obvious, but the materials and body structure used in EVs can vary greatly from that which is in traditional ICE powertrains. EV batteries can be quite a bit larger than an ICE, such as in the case of the Mach-E, and are often stored beneath the floor of the vehicle, resulting in a significantly different result when it comes to crash protection.
Ford vehicle hardware modules integration chief engineer Mark Mikolaiczik explained in the May 19 edition of Great Designs in Steel the challenges they faced in creating a safe EV body.
“We faced many challenges related to energy management as we moved from the ICE to the BEV,” Mikolaiczik said.
“That’s primarily due to the weight of the battery,” he said.
According to Mikolaiczik, the automaker was forced to address a 36 percent increase in test mass and energy input during a crash, as a result of the restructuring around the vehicle’s battery.
Ford also faced a 10 percent reduction in the crush space available in the front of the vehicle compared to a gas vehicle.
This meant the front rails had to handle a 53 percent increase in crash load, according to Mikolaiczik.
“We increased the rail section,” Mikolaiczik said. He said the OEM boosted the front rail gauges to 1.9 mm and strengthened the upper load path (the shotgun to the hinge pillar).
These changes, among a multitude of others, helped contribute to Mach-E’s “good” ratings across the board during its recent IIHS crash testing phase.
The full course of Mach-E’s structural development can be seen in the slides provided by Ford.
