Karma Automotive has announced the completion of its E-Flex Platform project, a series of highly versatile EREV (extended range electric vehicle) and BEV (battery electric vehicle) rolling chassis systems the company is making available to other manufacturers. Karma is aiming to reinvent the traditional retail-based automotive business model by opening its engineering, design, customization and manufacturing resources to other companies looking to speed product development and access new technology.

Karma began developing its E-Flex Platforms after recognizing a high demand within the electric vehicle market for platforms with increased versatility. The cost required to develop, test, certify and build a new EREV or BEV platform has been prohibitive, requiring several years of development time and as much as a billion-dollar investment for manufacturers. Karma’s versatile E-Flex Platform solutions allow manufacturers faster entry into the electric vehicle market at a substantially reduced development cost, as well as the ability to assist them in integrating E-Flex’s electric platforms to their future products.

Karma developed five E-Flex platforms for the project, each showcasing a different electric vehicle solution with common building blocks. With over 20 different platform configurations available, the E-Flex Platforms can be built with BEV (battery electric vehicle) and EREV (extended range electric vehicle) architecture, various electric motor configurations, various battery packs for different ranges and performance requirement, smart e-powertrain management system, unique suspensions, torque vectoring technology, and more.

Some of Karma’s E-Flex platform applications include an all-electric Level 4 Autonomous Van developed in partnership with NVIDIA and WeRide, an All-Wheel Drive Performance EV with supercar-capable architecture, a Karma EREV E-Flex Van for last-mile cargo transportation, a Karma "Everyday BEV"  for single motor all-electric transportation of small cargo and a Karma All-Wheel Drive Extended Range EV for pickup truck and utility vehicle applications.