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Source: TWIKE press release 05.04.2023
The TWIKE 5 makers start into the last round of development of the EE architecture for the time being. Electrics and electronics are the heart, brain and nervous system of the innovative electric vehicle. With professional support, the project is progressing rapidly.
The individual wires of the wiring harness of a current mid-size car laid end to end result in a distance of about eight kilometers. In the classic combustion engine, control units, sensors and actuators operate electrically and communicate electronically with each other. Without their efficient networking, even a largely mechanical gasoline engine can no longer operate today, and elementary safety and comfort systems also fail to perform. Even though leading manufacturers in the field of e-mobility are already succeeding today in significantly reducing the physical dimensions of a wiring harness, in vehicles with purely electric drives, electrics and electronics form the core of the entire technology.
In the development of the TWIKE 5, as with its predecessors, electrics and electronics are high on the list of tasks to be completed before the prototype is ready for series production. The underlying EE architecture of the TWIKE 5 comprises the power electronics including the drive motor and battery, the 12-volt on-board electrics, the wiring harness and all building blocks of the control electronics, such as relays and program-executing controllers. Basically, the EE architecture includes all current-carrying components of the TWIKE 5.
“If current flows through a component or it has a plug, the colleagues in our development team from the electrical and electronics department are responsible,” explains Bernd Werner, the e-technology specialist at TWIKE GmbH in Rosenthal.
With the dedicated and enthusiastic efforts of all involved, more than 95% of the EE architecture has been completed to date. For full completion, confirmations for the use of mating connectors on the wiring harness side are currently still essentially missing. Impressive effort is expended on each individual component. This includes basic testing of the suitability of hardware offered by external suppliers. If this is the case, long-term availability in the required quantities must also be guaranteed. In addition, the use requires the presence of the detailed technical specifications of the manufacturer. They form an important basis for the work of the developers at Fulda-based EDAG Engineering GmbH. As a service provider, the experienced automotive developer has been involved in the development of the TWIKE 4 since its inception.
“The expertise of our partners at EDAG was already invaluable in the development of the TWIKE 4 pure vehicle concept,” explains Martin Möscheid, Managing Director of TWIKE GmbH. “We are confident that together we will also successfully advance and complete the TWIKE 5 development process.”
In procuring the potential components for completing the TWIKE 5, those responsible are relying on a three-pronged strategy. At least three samples are procured here. One component is used to expand the Test Bench, a test bench used in the Fulda e-lab to test product properties and their interaction. A second sample, after electrical commissioning, is used in conjunction with mechanical components to complete the first prototype of the TWIKE 5. The third pattern is used for practice assembly and is part of the planning of all processes required later in pre-assembly and final assembly.
“This exciting phase will set the course for the future of the TWIKE 5,” Möscheid explains. “In the process, many processes run in parallel and in direct coordination. What we accomplish in the process will have a long-term impact on the success of the TWIKE 5, which is why we are literally under power every day.”
