BorgWarner converts Ariel Nomad for innovations
BorgWarner has converted an Ariel Nomad into a fully electric high-voltage demonstration vehicle. The electric Nomad is less about driving performance and more about innovating technical solutions.
The prototype should allow the US American supplier to prove its competence in purely electric drive systems, as well as promoting research, development and validation processes for the implementation of new technologies.
Special attention has been paid to the prototype’s technological solutions such as traction inverters, torque vectoring rear-wheel drive, an electric coolant pump, software for vehicle and drive control, a DC/DC converter and the high-voltage battery pack. In the heat management system, the coolant is fed through the converters and the battery pack via an electric pump. The liquid-cooled 350 V/30 kWh module delivers a peak output of 200 kW.
Hakan Yilmaz, CTO at BorgWarner, says that: “We will continue to embrace projects such as this EV demonstration vehicle that help us validate next-generation products and, ultimately, propel the industry toward a cleaner, more energy-efficient world.”
BorgWarner subsidiary Cascadia Motion has developed the rear-wheel drive with two separate motors, each with its converter and transmission. The batteries come from a joint venture between BorgWarner and Romeo Power, a company founded in 2015 by a group of engineers from SpaceX, Tesla, and Samsung. The joint venture’s battery modules and packs are expected to include intelligent battery management systems with proprietary algorithms, as well as proprietary thermal engineering for active and passive cooling. The demonstration vehicle is to be operated with different battery power levels to test and evaluate battery applications for specific vehicle concepts.
The choice of the US American sports car manufacturer’s off-road buggy as fundament vehicle for technical development has little to do with its driving performance. Due to its open design with only a few trim parts above the frame, the installation and removal of various components in the test car is more straightforward than in a fully integrated sports car.
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