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The development of an automotive hood for an electric vehicle based on a polymer-metal hybrid configuration is described in this paper. Here, special focus is given only to the engineering design and prototyping phases which are the initial stages of a much bigger project. A project that aims to evaluate the cost efficiency, weight penalty and structural integrity of adopting polydicyclopentadiene as an exterior body material in low production volume vehicles, among them the electric ones. For the engineering design and prototyping phases, three different reinforcement geometries were developed and six mechanical simulations were done through finite element analysis to aid best frame geometry selection and optimization. The entire hood was then prototyped containing the optimized geometry. The fabrication of the frame was made through metal stamping and the exterior panel through reaction injection moulding. Adhesive bonding was used for its assembly.

The automotive industry paradigm shift from convention internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles brought new technical challenges for automotive OEMs. During this shifting period, electric vehicles are expected to be produced on small volumes, requiring new design and production processes. In order to have a more flexible and efficient production system, OEMs and suppliers are working on modularity as a design tool to reduce the time to market, reduce the complexity of supply chains and reduce the total vehicle production cost. One of these modular components will be the chassis, which was introduced as a skate by GM on the Sequel concept. On this concept all the crashworthy components were included in the skate, over which an autobody was assembled. This skate-chassis included all the powertrain components, batteries, power electronics and motors, as well as braking and suspension systems.