Processes for producing an electric vehicle include manufacture of a lower body skateboard platform including at least energy storage/conversion (batteries within a ladder frame), propulsion, suspension and wheels, steering, crash protection, and braking, and manufacture of a top hat upper portion including at least the vehicle cabin housing various interior components such as passenger seats, frame covers, and a roof headliner, together with steering and acceleration controls. The upper body portion and the lower body platform are manufactured separately in parallel and then merged, which allows for ease of manufacture and a more compact design.

An aerodynamic trailer including first and second side panels, the side panels each having a trapezoidal channel running along a substantial length thereof; an arcuate front panel extending substantially between front edges of the side panels; a top positioned above the front panel and the side panels, the top having a rearwardly sloping front section and two oppositely positioned outer fins running along outward portions thereof and a center fin running along a center thereof; a door positioned at rear edges of the side panels and the top; and at least one axle supporting at least two wheels. Other features of the trailer create aerodynamic benefits.

A metallic joint 18 having a substantially T-shaped cross section configured to join an inner surface in a vehicle width direction of a FRP side wall member 13 extending in a front-rear direction and an outer end in the vehicle width direction of a FRP standing wall member 14 extending in the vehicle width direction includes left-right joining surfaces 18b and 18c joined to an inner surface in the vehicle width direction of the side wall member 13, and a front-rear joining surface 18a which extends inward in the vehicle width direction from an intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of the left-right joining surfaces 18b and 18c and is joined to a front surface or a rear surface of the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the standing wall member 14.

A roof for a vehicle is provided. The roof includes a roof panel that is formed of a composite material, a reinforcing frame that is attached onto a lower surface of the roof panel and formed of a composite material and a plurality of first reinforcing members that are connected to the reinforcing frame within the reinforcing frame and disposed to be continuously spaced apart from each other. A plurality of second reinforcing members are connected to the reinforcing frame while intersecting with the first reinforcing members and are disposed to be continuously spaced apart from each other to form a truss structure together with the first reinforcing members within the reinforcing frame.

Since a recess 11f configured to house an in-vehicle component 37 is formed on an outer surface of a first wall portion 11c of a FRP vehicle body panel 24, a metallic reinforcing member 32 is fitted to the recess 11f and is fixed by adhesive, the reinforcing member 32 can compensate for a decrease in strength of the first wall portion 11c caused by the recess 11f. Since an outer peripheral portion of the reinforcing member 32 is mechanically fastened to the vehicle body panel 24 with rivets 33 and 35, the outer peripheral portion serving as a starting point of peeling of an adhesive is reinforced by mechanical fastening so that the vehicle body panel 24 and the reinforcing member 32 can be firmly integrated.

A hood panel is provided. The hood panel includes a plurality of first layers formed of a reinforced fiber and a resin and a plurality of second layers including a complex portion formed of a reinforced fiber and a resin and a resin portion formed of a resin. The first layer and the second layers form a multilayer structure. A reinforced area is formed by the first layers and the complex portions of the second layers and a shock absorption area is formed by the first layers and the resin portions of the second layers.

An assembly useful for providing structural reinforcement and/or sound/vibration damping to a hollow member of a motor vehicle is provided which contains an injection-molded carrier made of a heat resistant thermoplastic composition, at least one of the first side and the second side of the carrier has at least one receptacle adapted to receive and retain an insert comprised of a heat-expandable resin composition. The carrier may have a plurality of openings in at least one of the first side or the second side forming a grid or lattice and the assembly may include a mounting member adapted to fasten the carrier to an interior wall of a hollow member.

The invention relates to a motor vehicle floor having a lower floor made from a composite material; and an upper floor made from a composite material, extending opposite at least part of the lower floor, the lower and upper floors being connected to one another. The floor includes at least one cavity at least partially delimited by the lower or upper floor and communicating with the exhaust line of the motor vehicle.

A method of forming a cross-car beam is provided. A composite is melted to form a viscous polymer. The polymer is injected into a mold. Pressurized fluid is injected into the mold to evacuate a portion of the viscous polymer from the mold and to form a channel therethrough. The remaining viscous polymer is cooled within the mold to form a cross-car beam.

An installation structure for a vicinity information detection sensor includes the vicinity information detection sensor and a vibration absorbing member. The vicinity information detection sensor includes a detector attached to a vehicle inner side of an outer panel of a vehicle body and configured to radiate electromagnetic waves that function as radar waves that detect vicinity information of a vehicle, and a motor provided in the detector and configured to change a radiation direction of the electromagnetic waves. The vibration absorbing member is placed between the outer panel and the vicinity information detection sensor.