| The MILA Blue vehicle concept will be shown at Geneva Motor Show 2014. |
Vienna, Austria — February 26, 2014 — Vehicle lightweighting strategies invariably have some effect on the repair process. Magna International has announced it will showcase the MILA Blue vehicle concept at Geneva Motor Show 2014, featuring a number of innovative lightweighting concepts we may see in production vehicles in the future.
The MILA Blue is the seventh concept vehicle in the MILA family. According to the company, it represents a new, intelligent, lightweight design approach. MILA Blue achieves a weight savings of 300kg compared to typical current A-segment vehicles. This is the result of sophisticated interaction between an optimized vehicle architecture and the latest lightweight design concepts, as well as novel materials and joining technologies.
“As the automotive industry continues to look for ways to become more environmentally friendly, Magna continues to leverage its engineering expertise to bring our customers solutions that meet their challenges,†says Günther Apfalter, President of Magna International Europe. “MILA Blue underscores our technological competence in lightweight construction and alternative drives, which help answer the demands of global CO2reduction.”
MILA Blue’s weight-reduction achievement is based on a holistic, lightweight engineering concept that rests on three pillars:
• Functional integration – for example, replacing plastic interior trim with structural parts suitably designed with laminable, visually attractive surfaces.
• Material substitution – multi-material approach including aluminum, magnesium and composite materials to deliver cost-effective, innovative lightweight modules.
• Downsizing – leveraging smaller, lighter components while at the same time maintaining function and performance.
MILA Blue uses an alternative drive system, a compressed natural gas hybrid drive that achieves a carbon footprint of less than 49g CO2/km. Refueling with biogas instead of fossil-derived natural gas can bring about an additional improvement in the carbon footprint to < 36g CO2/km. The combustion engine is coupled with an automatic manual transmission and a belt-driven starter generator. Due to the vehicle’s comparatively light weight, crawling along in stop-and-go traffic and cruising up to 30km/h can be done electrically using power from the vehicle’s 12V-based electric motor and start-stop system.
For further information about Magna, please visit magna.com.
