PACES provides EV chassis solution

The Cornwall-based company claim that PACES (Passenger And Commercial EV Skateboard) is an adaptable bonded aluminium platform for low volume manufacture that can be applied to almost any EV – across FWD, RWD and AWD layouts – and complies with ISO regulations and European Small Series Type Approval crash standards.

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Where large-volume aluminium skateboards use bespoke, complex and expensive corner-castings, PACES is composed of lightweight extrusions – flat, laser-cut pieces – that interlock and bond together. This so-called FlexTech innovation allows PACES to form chassis that are low cost, rigid and accurate, delivered to within 1mm of variability across the whole platform, requiring little upfront investment in tooling or post-assembly machining.

Development partners on the PACES project are Stalcom Automotive Technologies, Equipmake,and Potenza Technology.

In a statement, Neil Yates, founder and owner of Watt Electric Vehicle Company, said: “As we rapidly accelerate towards 2030, electrification is a major challenge for niche manufacturers. With low sales volumes, it is difficult for these businesses – whether start-ups or established brands – to invest in their own new specific EV technology and develop it in-house. Watt Electric Vehicle Company enables the niche vehicle industry to go electric with PACES.