eMobility – preparation

PRODUCTION IS READY FOR THE ENYAQ iV

START OF PRODUCTION OF THE FIRST MEB PLATFORM MODEL IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN THIS YEAR

 he carmaker has finished reconstructing the assembly line in Hall M13 in its main plant. It is the only one in the entire VW Group to provide for parallel production of cars on the MEB and MQB platforms. This means that the ENYAQ iV electric car, the OCTAVIA and the compact KAROQ SUV will all be rolling off the same line.

ŠKODA AUTO has invested EUR 32 million in the assembly line for the new electric drive. Modifications have been made since last summer and have involved changes to the building’s statics or in the parts transporting technology, which has been adapted to suit the weight of purely battery-powered electric vehicles and built-in parts. Additionally, the conversions have contributed to fully automating the final assembly of the platform and the high-voltage traction battery. The carmaker has installed auxiliary robots to handle heavy batteries and also to set up a larger workstation for head-up displays adaptations. During the reconstruction, it focused particularly on safety, mainly in the area of battery handling. To this end, it took extensive fire-fighting measures. For example, thermal imaging cameras have been installed to  monitor the temperature in the production hall and to trigger an alarm if a deviation occurs. ED

SOFTWARE INSPECTION ASSISTANT

he E-Meisterbock or Elektromeisterbock (test tool used to ensure the quality of electric vehicles, ed.) was used by the PAM – Launch Management Project MIDSIZE team for the first time while preparing the ENYAQ iV model production. It is one of the first pre-production vehicles whose luggage compartment contains a huge flashing computer. After the car is built, the computer is connected to each wire and control unit so that it records everything that happens with the car. About 300 different functionalities are started in the car, most of which are not perceptible at first glance. Therefore, the computer stores a comprehensive amount of information about when someone opens the door, turns on the ignition, closes the side window or turns on the radio. It then analyses the data and checks whether everything went as it should (e.g., whether the left window started instead of the right window, etc.). In case any of the functions are not working properly, the computer immediately reports this issue to the Technical Development staff. E-Meisterbock testing takes place in the pre-series phase every two weeks. “If an error is detected, we wait for a new set of control units and their associated software to be released by Technical Development. Then we immediately rebuild the car, adjust it to the new state and start testing again to see whether the software bugs have been fixed or not”, says Radek Liška, head of PAM. At a time when ŠKODA cars are, to an increasing extent, becoming computers on wheels, E-Meisterbock is proving to be an essential part of the ramp-ups. “That’s why we’ve decided to use the E-Meisterbock in other projects as well – even in cars with conventional drives”, concludes Liška. ED