The UK aims to reduce carbon emissions to become net zero by 2050\. An important part of this strategy is the move to zero emission vehicles including electric vehicles (EVs). To date, most EV's are modelled on current petrol/diesel vehicles. This requires significant battery power as large amounts of metal and multiple passengers are moved. Consequently, requiring significant energy and EV charging infrastructure and not tackling issues related to congestion in UK towns/cities which will only get worse as people seek to charge/park large cars for multiple recharge events. However, this move to EV's does not have to emulate current petrol/diesel infrastructure and small EV's (e.g. single passenger vehicles, small last mile delivery vehicles) and micromobility (e.g. e-cargo bikes) can be used to increase sustainability (e.g. lower materials use), reduce congestion and lower costs. Current EV's can be expensive, therefore lowering the cost vehicles and decreasing weight via lower meatal use are important in helping the public and commercial users to electrify.

We are aiming to create a novel, low cost, energy and resource efficient method of manufacturing EV vehicle chassis that increases sustainability and circularity within EV lifecycles. We are developing 'X-Brace', a modular kit of parts comprising thermoplastic tubing (this can be recycled or derived from sustainable resources) or tubes made from natural materials (e.g. bamboo, flax, hemp and a bio-resin) and metal joining parts. We can provide the designs and X-Brace kit that meets the exact needs of the EV manufacturer/user e.g. bespoke configurations of cargo areas or adaptations for disability vehicles. The manufacturing process will require no specialist equipment and be developed with energy saving principles in mind. Furthermore, after the initial life of the vehicle, we aim for our system to be easily disassembled/reassembled for re-use increasing sustainability and circularity without the need for an energy intensive recycling step.

We aim for our X-Brace chassis to use 60% less metal, be 50% lighter to increase battery efficiency and range and be 50% lower in costs than traditional metal chassis. These savings can be passed onto users to increase affordability whilst aiming to increase sustainability and circularity within materials and manufacturing supply chains.