Williams and Italdesign to offer companies ‘turn-key’ electric vehicle development

Williams Advanced Engineering and Italdesign have shared details of a ‘turn-key’ electric vehicle architecture that would allow companies to easily produce EVs.

The engineering division of the Williams F1 team is working with the world-renowned design studio to offer companies a complete package that could work for sports cars, SUVs and saloons.

It’s based on Williams’ electric vehicle architecture, which uses lightweight materials for the chassis and integrates the battery and electric motors into the structure.

The firm says this allows it to transfer crash loads through internal reinforcements, which in turn creates a stiff chassis in the lower structure. This results in less reliance on the upper section, giving more design freedom.

Italdesign will use the rolling chassis and add safety systems and structures as well as user experience devices. Its design team will then work with the third-party to style the vehicle’s exterior to its bespoke needs.

The firms say the platform is appealing because it offers high-performance driving with a short time to market, as well as flexibility and affordability for low volumes of up to 10,000 units.

Williams has developed the battery in-house, and has fantastic expertise, having been the sole battery supplier to the Formula E championship between 2014 and 2018, as well as the ETCR and Extreme-E electric racing series.

It says its platforms can take a battery with a capacity up to 160kWh, providing a range of over 620 miles.

Paul McNamara, technical director at Williams Advanced Engineering said: “We are delighted to join forces with Italdesign on this exciting and timely joint collaboration.

“Demand for high performance electric vehicles is continuing to show considerable growth but to date, there has not been a complete EV production solution. This unique relationship brings together state-of-the-art EV rolling chassis technology with one of the world’s leaders in vehicle body engineering.”