About Us
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We Are EX-CORE
EX-CORE has its origins in a research project by Dutch boutique supercar maker Donkervoort in 2011, and is now a separate company.
Donkervoort’s engineers and designers were not satisfied with the available carbon-fibre offerings, and were demanding more in strength, design flexibility, ease of use and low cost, flexible production.
With nothing on the horizon, Donkervoort developed Ex-Core into a product that fitted its obsession with ultra light weight, tremendous strength, the ability to be moulded into seemingly impossible angles and with good looks.
It also lowered costs, with very low wastage and low energy compared to conventional processes, and Ex-Core claimed several patents and an EU grant.
Ex-Core was spun off into its own company in 2022 and its clients, from the world of motorsport to supercars to aviation and luxury yachting, have signed on to Donkervoort’s original idea.
OUR (HI)STORY
Donkervoort discovered the secrets behind EX-CORE almost by accident, and its developers have painstakingly evolved and innovated the technology, and its production processes, ever since.
The idea to squeeze carbon fibre sheets against the moulds from the inside out came from the expansion of carbon-fibre car parts left in the hot sun, and the industrialisation of the idea took a decade to perfect.
The Ex-Core Mission
Ever since Donkervoort discovered the secrets behind the EX-CORE® production process, Ex-Core has followed its vision to organically expand its reach into more and more industries, both large and boutique, that benefit from the technology and the process.
To do that, we have evolved, innovated and perfected Ex-Core and its production system with more specialised characteristics for more specialised use cases, and that will never change.
Historic Highlights
From a realisation to a business-changing production process, EX-CORE® has freed minds, budgets and the environment since it was first industrialised in 2017. These are some of Ex-Core’s milestone moments.
Research starts
Donkervoort initiates research on closed-mould CFRP production and the properties of expanding foam materials. The first experiments directed Ex-Core towards syntactic foams, followed by the painstaking development of the correct type of foam and, with it, the EX-CORE® process.
The foam had to be light, with a predetermined rate of expansion at a specific temperature, generating a specific pressure to squeeze the carbon fibre and resins out against the mould, and then stop. Forever.
It took 10 years to lock down the recipe and to validate it for production.
Core Material Developed
The EX-CORE® prototype develops from TRL4 stage to become a tested technology (TRL6). These prototype components were then evolves into production technology, right up to TRL7.
A core material is painstakingly developed, which expands linearly, as a function of temperature, at up to 20 bar.
It is innovated to work within a one-shot mould that delivers complete parts faster, using less energy, less wastage and more accuracy than existing technologies.
Initial Prototype
The TRL7 level of the EX-CORE® prototype is achieved.
It is the final step in the development of the Ex-Core tooling, process and material before Ex-Core moves from producing prototype parts to full production parts for Donkervoort.
Patent Granted
March 2016, Donkervoort applies for an international patent for EX-CORE®, which is granted.
There are many carbon-fibre processes, and some of them even slightly resemble Ex-Core, but they are very limited in their applications and offer no challenge to the Ex-Core patent.
Production Begins
Donkervoort designs, engineers, validates and produces EX-CORE® parts for its road legal production cars for the first time.
The initial Ex-Core application was for incredibly complex and safety-critical door for the Donkervoort D8 GTO-RS supercar. The single-piece door meets all crash safety requirements around the world, looks superb and weighs only 1kg.
It helps the entire car to meet its weight target of 695kg.
EASME Grant
Donkervoort receives a grant from EASME under the EU Horizon 2020 project for further development and production expansion.
One of just 50 grant recipients from more than 2300 applications, the grant program challenges EX-CORE® to develop a mass-production method within the next two years, which it achieves comfortably.
Commercialisation
Donkervoort considers a joint venture for commercial exploitation and marketing of EX-CORE®.
With several potential business models considered for external customers, the joint-venture model becomes the favoured process, both for ease of use for clients and for guaranteed quality by Ex-Core.
Series Production
Donkervoort begins series production of multiple EX-CORE® components for its F22 supercar. The production appears first as small volumes at Donkervoort, before rising to larger series production in multiple industries.
Besides its series production automotive roles, Ex-Core components are used in Formula One, the World Endurance Championship, on key components of luxury yachts and in cycling and aviation roles.
Our Team
Interested in a rewarding career creating some of the world’s most interesting carbon-fibre components in a booming company?
EX-CORE® has opportunities for people as innovative, creative and precise as the technology we create, in a high-tech company with a minimal environmental footprint compared to conventional carbon-fibre technologies.
Ex-Core employees are expected to pay extreme attention to every detail of every component, and to research and validate every detail of every innovation.
Our approach to employees is the also different, with direct contact with the company’s family owners and no bureaucracy.
The family approach leads to surprisingly diversified work full of high technology and craftsmanship, in a company with a reputation for innovation and stability.