LEVC deploys EV, MPV trucks on new SOA platform; battery, engine shared with Geely SEA models
The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) is owned by Geely – formerly known as London Taxi Company – will launch a series of electric trucks and MPV will form its main product expansion, the company has announced.
The range will be built on the company’s Spatial Oriented Architecture (SOA) platform, which will underpin a wider range of large vans and MPVs than models from other manufacturers such as Volkswagen Multivan and Citron . space travelbased on car.
There is still no confirmation on the models that will use the platform, however LEVC has previewed an “Xspace Series”, which includes a cab, a family MPV, a luxury MPV as well as two cars load, car reported.
For modular designs, the key to the SOA platform is versatility, allowing vehicles in lengths from 4,860 mm to 5,995 mm, with wheelbases ranging from 3,000 mm to 3,800 mm. , the upper bound is longer than the standard. Mercedes-Benz sprint car.
The SOA platform has been engineered to provide a low tread height of 386 mm, which LEVC says is 74 mm lower than the average European truck, while the trunk edge is 28 mm lower than the average, thus helping to reduce the load of heavy objects. challenge. This will be further aided by the standard air suspension on SOA-based vehicles, which will drop 20mm at the front and 40mm at the rear.
The SOA platform has been engineered to achieve a torsional stiffness of 41,000 Nm per degree, twice the stiffness of a typical European MPV according to LEVC. This in turn offers ride quality and refinement “10% better” than German luxury SUVs as well as reduced interior noise when traveling at high speeds, the design director said. said architect Kent Bovellan. car.
Regarding the powertrain, battery and drive motor for use on the SOA platform will be shared from parent company Geely’s SEA platform, which is also the platform for smart #1 and Zeekr 001.
The most powerful of the powertrain configurations to be deployed with SOA-based models is likely to be the 544 PS/768 Nm dual-motor setup in The first model of the Zeekr brandThe rear engine will be the main drive, says Bovellan, meaning it will do most of the propulsion until full acceleration is required.
Models built from the SOA platform will be specified with one of three battery packs – a 73 kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery delivering 362 km on the WLTP cycle, a 102 kWh nickel-cobalt-manganese battery delivering 491 km and 120 kWh nickel-cobalt battery. cobalt-manganese battery pack runs well for 574 km.
These will allow 10-80% charge in as little as 30 minutes, and every SOA-based model will get a head pump as standard.
Autonomous driving capability will be heavily featured in upcoming SOA-based models, although the vehicle’s initial runs will be limited to Level 2 driver assistanceand other self-driving capabilities are likely to arrive via over-the-air (OTA) updates after the mid-2020s, the magazine writes.
Among these upcoming SOA-based models, the taxi “will always be in production” [in the UK],” LEVC CEO Chris Allen was quoted by car with that said, though it’s unlikely every version in this range will be made in the UK as well.
“In terms of where we then choose our manufacturing footprint for the different vehicles to come in [SOA platform]it’s like going back to the same question of where the market is… So when we do marketing, we’re going to define where the manufacturing footprint is,” says Allen.
