Currently reading: EDAG 'Light Cocoon' revealed at Geneva motor show

German OEM supplier showcases new lightweight construction method

Specialist engineering firm EDAG has previewed its latest vision of futuristic car construction at the Geneva motor show, with a concept dubbed ‘Light Cocoon’.

The EDAG Light Cocoon is another 3D-printed creation from the company, using similar ‘additive manufacturing’ construction techniques applied to the firm’s preceding concept – the Genesis – at last year’s Geneva motor show.

Designers have used a leaf as their inspiration for the ‘ultimate, lightweight outer skin’. A weatherproof textile fabric made by outdoor clothing specialists Jack Wolfskin, and called ‘Texapore Softshell’, is stretched over the 3D-printed skeletal frame.

The material reportedly weighs 19g per square metre and is four times lighter than standard copier paper. The skeleton and skin-like fabric is back-lit, illuminating the two-seater concept, which also features glass doors.

EDAG’s head designer Johannes Barckmann states the lightweight concept is primarily designed to provide the necessary strength with the minimal amount of material required.

“We are pursuing the vision of sustainability – as demonstrated by nature: lightweight, efficient and without any waste," he said “The EDAG Light Cocoon presents a stable, branch-like, load-bearing structure from the 3D printer, which uses material only where it is absolutely necessary."

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ordinary bloke 24 February 2015

Light weight cars

Cars have obviously got far too heavy in recent years (not really the manufacturers fault as legislation demands better crash protection and more safety systems) but if this system of construction works as well it must be good idea for electric car manufacturers if no one else as a lighter body must equate to longer range or smaller batteries for similar performance/range. One can of course also argue that makers have simply been making each successive generation of model bigger than the last, I guess that a current Polo is probably as big as a Golf Mk.I, which can't be a good idea.