Vehicle Engineering

Ricardo has been involved in full vehicle engineering programmes since its formation nearly a century ago. In recent years several major passenger car programmes have been delivered by Ricardo for a range of leading brands. These have included the deployment of alternative powertrain technologies, hybrid drive and energy management systems, and lightweight, high performance body architectures and chassis systems for maximum energy efficiency. With its deep technical knowledge and broad ranging vehicle engineering experience, Ricardo is equal to any vehicle engineering challenge from cost-optimized products for emerging markets to the latest lightweight, high performance and EV architectures.

A truly world-class capability in passenger car vehicle systems engineering:

• Concept design, benchmarking , target and attribute setting – integration throughout development using design for manufacture principles and product design data management
• Vehicle, system and component level specification setting and development
• Access to state-of-the-art tools including Ricardo’s well-proven Total Vehicle Fuel Economy (TVFE) process
• Hybrid and EV powertrain installation and integration including an wide range of energy storage and management systems
• Package design and control including legal and safety requirements, weight distribution and clearance checks
• Component, system, and vehicle level design and validation using state-of-the-art CAE methods including ADAMS dynamic optimization, thermal simulation using WAVE and VECTIS, and VSIM vehicle systems analysis
• Vehicle dynamics optimization and incorporation of active safety technologies
• Structural analysis for performance, crashworthiness and durability
• Access to Ricardo’s world-class vehicle NVH team and facilities
• Lightweight structural architecture optimization and application of advanced materials, joining and manufacturing technologies
• Comprehensive prototype build and testing capability including all aspects of calibration and homologation