Windrose posts 1,023 CAD parts of E700 semi for free — SkimNews
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- Windrose released CAD models for all 1,023 parts of the X9D01 base model of its E700 Class 8 battery-electric semi truck through an online 3D viewer, free of charge.
- CEO Wen Han released the files in native PRT format (3.54 GB) rather than STEP or JT exports, preserving feature trees, sketch constraints and parametric relations — the design intent needed to reproduce parts years later that flattened export formats lose.
- Windrose's terms permit service, repair, replacement-parts and modification work without fee, permission or notification for owners, independent workshops and parts makers; only manufacturing new vehicles from the designs requires a conversation with the company.
- The release also includes an assembly tree of 1,920 parent-child relationships across 97 subassemblies plus a manifest of part names, systems and per-vehicle quantities.
- Han explicitly framed the move as a response to fleets' unspoken question about long-term parts supply for 15-year Class 8 service lives, naming defunct EV-truck peers Bollinger, LION Electric and Nikola as the failure mode the openness is meant to defuse.
- An ex-Ford engineer and two high-end tuners independently confirmed to the author that the released geometry is detailed enough for competent fab shops to machine mounts, fold brackets and fabricate panels for repair.
Why it matters: For fleet buyers weighing a startup-built Class 8 electric semi, the 15-year parts-availability risk that dogs every new entrant just got a concrete answer: any machine shop can now build the parts. That shifts Windrose from a brand-dependent purchase toward a design-intent-backed asset, and pressures other EV truck makers — most of whom can only offer 'trust us' — to explain how their trucks will be serviceable after the company is gone.
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