Morgan has been producing high quality handcrafted motor vehicles since 1909 and at the current Malvern Hills facility in Worcestershire UK since 1913. Today they produce their modern take on a British classic with a variety of traditional and modern vehicles, which embody Morgan’s heritage but embraces modern technologies.
The traditional Morgan 4/4 is the longest running production vehicle in the world and has built up iconic status during that time. Today it is manufactured by a series of hand crafted and super-plastically formed aluminum panels, a high-end process reserved for advanced aerospace applications and limited series exotic sports cars.
The Morgan EV3, looks at the world of zero emissions motoring from an entirely different perspective. What if an all-electric vehicle was bespoke made, hand crafted and exhilarating to drive? The EV3 embraces new technology, delivers responsible driving excitement and continues to celebrate traditional British motor manufacturing. Morgan is showcasing the final pre-production phase car which reveals the restyled body and interior. Weighing less than 500kg, the all-electric 3 Wheeler has a range of 150 miles.
The evolution at Morgan is truly in the engineering of the cars. Graham Chapman, Technology Manager, has been instrumental deploying new technology to build a greater understanding of the existing processes and developing new methodologies for future builds. Part of that modernization plan was to ‘digitize’ certain key characterizes of their chassis and body structures.
“We were looking for a solution that was easy to use but provides the high-end functionality to deliver quality scans and inspection data that can be engineered to meet our exacting standards here at Morgan Cars. Morgan is a traditional methods car builder but that does not mean we reject new technologies to achieve our goals of a ‘British Classic,” said Graham.
After evaluating processes and considering viable solutions, Verisurf Software was selected as the metrology software application along with the Hexagon Romer articulating scanning arm. The software/hardware combination provides Morgan with a user-friendly digital route from hand built components and assemblies to the CAD engineering team. The engineers can then produce up to date CAD designs of traditional legacy car platforms. This provides great insight into the current build process and gives a planning method for repeat-ability.
Global standards and approval requirements impose great challenges on the design of new vehicles, the automated measurement solution provides the dimensional controls that is a must for any modern car manufacturer. The scanning and reverse engineering application is also deployed for prototype design and build. Scanning clay scale models from the designers to capture the key dimensions and styling cues from which to start the engineering process.
“The automated measurement solution has been a huge asset to the engineering team here at Morgan. It provides us with array of functionality to achieve our goals,” said Tom Morris, CAD/Technology Engineer. “And with the flexibility of a common software application running across our development and manufacturing teams there is no project we can not achieve,” added Morris.
