Eevam Technologies- An interview with Jesús Salazar Avís, CEO and Founder

Friday, 2 June 2023

 

 

 

Here at the Vehicle Electrification Expo, we are delighted to have had the opportunity to hear from Eevam Technologies CEO and Founder Jesús Salazar Avís. Read on to find out more about this incredible company, and what you can expect from them at the upcoming Vehicle Electrification Show!

Exhibitor Spotlight

EEVAM Technologies is a Spanish engineering company dedicated to electric vehicle design and development. Originally created with a focus on research and innovation, the company founded in 2018 steadily began to deliver engineering services to all kind of European actors in the electric mobility sector, from first level OEMs on their way towards the electrification of their vehicle portfolio to young start-ups with new exciting projects. EEVAM offers engineering support in all development stages and no matter the nature of the task, be it a redesign, proof-of-concept or turnkey project, their agility allows them to adapt to any type of project. 

The cross functional team composed of engineers, designers and researchers specialises in the core component of any EV, the powertrain. Having a deep understanding of each subsystem is key when designing any vehicle, but it is of critical importance when each component has to be integrated  into a reduced space, as it is the case with electric motorbike frames or light quadricycle chassis. EEVAM’s areas of expertise is completed by their know-how in control algorithms, a significant feature in electric vehicles with multi-motor architectures that require custom solutions. 

EEVAM’s technological competence identified an unresolved problem in multi-battery architectures and quickly began to do research on power distribution strategies. The result of their research efforts is a new technology called Powermaster, a smart power distribution system that unlocks the full potential of a multi-battery vehicle without compromising battery health or state-of-charge disparities.  

Can you give me a high-level overview of the type of work EEVAM does?
We are an engineering company focusing on designing and developing what we believe to be the next generation of vehicles. Meaning Electric Vehicles, Connected Vehicles and Smart Vehicles.
In order to fulfil our mission, we have created a multidisciplinary team which can work alongside OEMs to develop their new vehicles from concept to production. Our jobs are usually focused on creating a tailored Powertrain solution which can meet the High-Level Requirements a manufacturer establishes for its use case, guaranteeing a successful chassis-powertrain integration, and implementing state-of-the-art electronics and controls for the whole vehicle.

How and when did this company get started? And what is your role within the organization?
I am CEO and Founder of the company, which was born in 2018 when a group of engineers from the automotive and aerospace sectors realized that many manufacturers were unable to react to the new market and regulatory needs, being imposed by this next generation of vehicles. This was a common trend for light vehicles, such as motorcycles, cars, industrial vehicles, aircrafts, etc. Many things are changing and it’s a tricky situation, because an agile start-up like mentality is required to properly adapt to this new situation, but for a project to be successful it needs to be backed by a well-established industrial group with enough resources. And those things don’t usually go hand to hand. So, we want to offer vehicle manufacturers (some of them established more than 100 years ago) an opportunity to bootstrap their EV projects.

Your website mentions capacities in all stages of production for electric vehicles (concept, design, prototyping, etc.). Is there one space that you find most of your work or is it evenly distributed?
Our work is evenly distributed among those areas. We have an integral approach to projects and like to be involved from concept to production, although sometimes we just focus on a specific stage (like building a 1st prototype for the manufacturer to test with potential customers before they make the decision to proceed with the full project and involve their own engineering team) or on specific areas (like being responsible for the development of the electronics and controls systems from concept to production).

Who are EEVAM’s customers? OEMs? Start-ups? Others?
It’s generally a mixture between OEMs and Start-ups. As I said before, we are trying to bootstrap the development of next-gen vehicles and that is quite appealing for OEMs which have been doing ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) for a century and, with us, get a chance to build something new in a really short period of time, even if their internal teams and capabilities are not yet ready for the next-gen. Also, mobility start-ups are getting a lot of funding lately, as VCs realize that there is a shift in the mobility paradigm. With us, they get the opportunity to land a successful 1st product in the market, while they are still in the process of building their teams and capabilities.

How do you use Solid Edge within your business?
We use Solid Edge as our main engineering hub for the projects. Is our CAD tool for any mechanical design task, packaging or layout verification, integration of OTS components, harness design…It is the place we go to create our concepts and designs and verify their validity. We also use it as a tool to share knowledge between projects and keep everyone updated about the state of our developments, since it is the easiest way for us to visualize the products that still does not exist.

How did you come across Solid Edge as a solution and why did you choose it?
We already knew about the Siemens’ CAD solutions (NX and Solid Edge) and were well aware of their capabilities. Some of our teammates even had previous experience using Solid Edge in different industries. Once we discovered the start-up program, it was a no brainer for us. We applied for the program and Siemens allowed our company to join. Since then, it is been great to be part of this group and learn about the work of other start-ups in the program and the different ways the come up of using the same tools as us.

Are there any specific tools within Solid Edge that are especially useful for your business? Anything that uniquely solves challenges you encounter within the electric vehicle space?
Since we work with a lot of electrical components, routing wires is a task that we need to take care carefully. We need to make sure that the lengths of the cables are the ones we need to get an optimized use of the internal space in the vehicle, have a comprehensive view of the different connectors and the wires connected to their pins or being able to give a good access to the technician during the assembly of the harness. In all that challenges, the integration between the 3D CAD and the wiring environments of Solid Edge is a key tool to our workflow. It makes quick and easy to visualize all the elements around the area you are working on and make adjustments that you can see in real time. Then you can get that 3D modelled harness and create a proper documentation that will update automatically if any changes need to be made.

Can you walk me through your design process, and tell me about where Solid Edge fits in?
Once we have our main vehicle structure designed in Solid Edge, we use the different functionalities for the next steps.
We import any off-the-shelf products STP models so we can find a place for them in our design. After that, we proceed to generate the wiring harness to connect every system of the vehicle as needed. It is really easy to collaborate between the mechanical and the electrical team, since anyone can have an updated version of the model and edit in accordance. You can see all the information in a 3D view in seconds. When everybody is happy with the design, we need to generate the documentation for the suppliers and check the manufacturability of the parts takin into account the technology that is going to be used in the factory. With Solid Edge we can verify the validity of the casted parts according to the parameters used by the manufacturer, make sure that the sheet metal parts can develop their shapes to be cut, ensure the tool radius for the machining… And, of course, create drawings and schematics to give all the indications for the assembly (e.g., different connectors for the wires, specially treated surfaces…) Then we have the option of using Key shot and the Xcelerator AR feature to show the product to the customers in an enjoyable manner.

As your business grows, what is next? Are you planning to stay in the EV space or work on other sustainable technologies?
Connectivity and Smart features are getting more and more attention, and the focus on those areas is increasing within our projects, but electric powertrains will be our main focus for the next few years. In terms of storing the energy required to drive those motors, we have been involved in some projects using fuel cells instead of Li-Ion, but they are still niche applications and we plan to keep focusing on lithium-based energy storage.

 

We are delighted to welcome Eevam Technologies to exhibit with us at the upcoming Vehicle Electrification Show, you can visit them on stand 807 for more!