DEP's e-scooter with swappable battery revealed

Engineering solutions and product development company, Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) is displaying its two-wheeler electric vehicle prototype at this year Auto Components Expo in Pragati Maidan. They are at the Green and Future Technologies Pavilion (Hall No. 4A, Stall No. 208).

The EV prototype on display has an extended range of 150km and a maximum speed of 80kph. To make it much easier for its consumers, DEP has made it with a swappable battery system.

Since its inception in 1998 in Troy, Michigan, DEP has supported many OEMs in their design and engineering projects. 

The body of their prototype e-scooter was reverse-engineered from an existing model and has been given a styling, engineering design which is optimised to give the lowest drag. It has been converted from a conventional vehicle to an electric one and brags of several advanced capabilities developed by the team such as optimised vehicle dynamics, removable batteries, extended range, and improved battery pack.

With around 80 percent of the vehicle designed and developed in India, the prototype a lithium-ion battery pack capacity of 4 KWh and it reaches 0-60kph in seven seconds. The next stage of the development company has plans to add solar panels on the exterior panels. This is said to add another 20 percent of additional energy to the vehicle.

The company has offices in Europe, China, Korea, Japan and India. The Michigan-based company supports a variety of customers worldwide in product development, vehicle engine development and a lot more. It is in partnership with most global OEMs.

Software that slashes CAE modeling time by 50 percent
As Autocar Professional already reported, DEP’s MeshWorks is a CAE-driven platform for rapid concept CAE and CAD model generation, meshing, morphing, and processing. The 2020 version of the software is said to reduce the CAE modeling time by 50 percent compared to its previous versions. 

“It is a parametric model now. You can instantly modify the design once you have modeled it. And, MeshWorks is also associative modeling. When CAD changes the model, it also changes the CAE model and vice versa. With this advanced launch, we plan to drastically bring down the go-to-market gestation period and bring up profitability. Engineers will benefit from the new functionality,” said Radha Krishnan.

DEP has also been working on to convert a diesel engine to petrol. The software and solution company working on it for quite some time and will come out soon with the final version. According to Radha Krishnan, “We are at the final stages of validation and we will soon come out with the engine. The goal is to help the light and medium-duty trucks in India to run on petrol. We are converting a diesel engine into a petrol engine, which will be very useful, because of its lesser emission and more pulling capacity.”

The company has also developed a drone which helps in scaring away birds in the vicinity of airport and runways. As bird hits are common at military airbases in India, DEP has designed and developed a 7-foot fixed-wing drone that has an ultrasonic emission device, an audible sound emitter, and a camera.