We’re approaching a future where car drive platforms will be skateboards and top hats. The former refers to the flat, often self-supporting chassis of an electric vehicle, housing a large battery pack in the middle and motors at either end, along with the suspension, brakes and wheels. Upon this sits the top hat, which is car designer-speak for the body and interior of a vehicle.

The new car companies will be companies that can design & build the complete top hat – exterior & interior panels for electric vehicles using processes like vacuum forming, vacuum lamination, neo-TOM & Wet Compression Moulding for lightweight, great NVH, superior look & feel panels with paint-free processes.

The exterior panels will be a sandwich - base will be ABS made using the vacuum forming process, B-surface would be glass fibre with paper honey comb and resin made using the wet compression moulding process, A-surface would be UV protected speciality film made using the neo-TOM process. All these technologies would make the exterior panels class A metallic looking without any paint on it, light weight & strong NVH.

The interiors of the EV will play a significance role - there will be digital displays along with soft-feel artificial leather TPO made using the vacuum lamination or IMG thermoforming process and metallic or wooden looking plastic parts made using the IMD or TOM thermoforming process.

Machinecraft along with FRIMO & FVF - can help you setup thermoforming ++ technologies suited to make the complete top hat - exterior & interiors of the new generation electric vehicles. To know more about thermoforming ++ technologies for the automotive industry, click the button below