Few companies in the automotive world have generated as much genuine engineering intrigue as Czinger — and the deeper you look, the more remarkable the story becomes. The 21C hypercar is the most visible proof of concept, but the real revolution is happening one layer beneath the bodywork, in the AI-driven manufacturing platform that makes it possible.
Leveraging AI-based design and optimization software has allowed Czinger to implement components and systems that have afforded the Czinger 21C a level of performance and design that has not been introduced in the automotive industry before. The source of Czinger’s advanced technology is a company founded by Kevin Czinger in 2014 called Divergent Technologies.
What Is Divergent Technologies?
Divergent Technologies is Czinger’s parent company and, in essence, is geared toward digitally engineering, optimizing, and manufacturing different complex structures using AI-enabled software and systems. The company was created to fill a gap in the automotive industry — specifically in manufacturing — which its founder, Kevin Czinger, viewed as still dominated by what he called “analog technology” that had changed little since the original Budd steel body process introduced in the 1930s.
In response to this apparent gap in the industry, Divergent Technologies debuted its Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), which consisted of an end-to-end software-defined production system capable of producing any conceivable structure, unaffected by the limitations of traditional manufacturing techniques.
Three distinct companies fall under the Divergent Technologies umbrella. The first is a Tier 1 supplier, meaning it directly supplies the final product offered by the company, which specializes in the automotive industry. Divergent Technologies’ second business is as a supplier to the aerospace sector. The third business is Czinger Vehicles, which we are already familiar with.
What Divergent Technologies Actually Does
At its core, Divergent Technologies supplies various industries with manufacturing and production solutions. Across those industries, it offers four distinct solutions for design and manufacturing. One of these is a fast and innovative R&D process. Where traditional R&D often suffers from timeline delays, high costs, and stringent tooling requirements, Divergent Technologies sidesteps these issues through an end-to-end design and production pipeline that drastically reduces both development time and cost.
Divergent’s production system can instantly switch from producing one product to another, enabling output to scale to thousands of structures per year. A further advantage is that it eliminates the risk of parts and tooling becoming obsolete, reduces supply chain vulnerability, and can be deployed as a scalable, modular printer and assembly system.
Divergent Adaptive Production System
2021 Czinger 21C Blue Front Angle Dark Lights OnCzinger
This is one of the core aspects of Divergent Technology. Its function can be broken into three stages: design, print, and assembly. Divergent’s DAPS is a universal vehicle assembly system that allows a design team to input a set of vehicle attributes — performance standards, component specifications, and structural targets. The system then generates an optimized structure during its processing cycle, iteratively adding and subtracting material until the most efficient properties are achieved. Typically, these structures are optimized for the best possible balance of structural rigidity and low weight.
This is the reason why the Czinger 21C has multiple components that look like frozen liquid. Once the components have been printed, they function like Lego blocks — each one designed to mate precisely with the next during assembly to form a complete product. In the case of the 21C, its structure consists of assembly blocks joined together by the system. Crucially, DAPS is capable of manufacturing vastly different final products — from autonomous submarines to hypercars like the 21C — using the same hardware and software, unchanged.
Within the automotive industry, Divergent Technologies’ main offering is the design, manufacturing, and supply of high-end vehicle frame and suspension structures. The Czinger 21C’s entire frame, suspension system, and braking system were designed and manufactured using Divergent Technologies’ proprietary production systems.
An Impressive Portfolio
Designing, producing, and assembling the bulk of the Czinger 21C is not the company’s only venture in the automotive industry. Divergent Technologies has a partnership with Bugatti in which it is responsible for the optimization of the French marque’s chassis and suspension components for its Tourbillon model, utilizing the Divergent Adaptive Production System. The goal is to achieve more efficient geometry for the chassis while reducing weight and elevating performance.
“We are excited to announce this partnership after working closely together for the past 18 months. It is clear that Divergent is the industry leader in digital engineering and additive manufacturing. These optimized chassis components find their perfect home in our most advanced vehicle to date.” – Mate Rimac, Bugatti Rimac CEO
Bugatti’s Tourbillon is not the only model to feature Divergent Technologies’ production solutions. McLaren Automotive is another high-end automaker that has partnered with the California-based company. Through this collaboration, Divergent will utilize its DAPS technology to introduce new and more complex vehicle architecture designs — work that fed into McLaren’s latest addition to its hypercar royal family, the McLaren W1. The partnership also enables McLaren to achieve better manufacturing efficiency and a more sustainable supply chain.
“We’re excited to work with Divergent who, like McLaren, have demonstrated a commitment to manufacturing and engineering innovation. This technology will help us to further reduce weight in our complex structures, which will ultimately benefit the driving experience of our customers and support McLaren’s mission to push the boundaries of performance.” – Michael Leiter, Former McLaren Automotive CEO
Why Divergent’s Work Is A Big Deal
Divergent Technologies’ work matters for two main reasons. The first is that the Divergent Adaptive Production System revolutionizes the vehicle manufacturing process. The seamless integration of design, printing, and assembly into a single continuous workflow is something that has never been implemented at this scale before, representing a genuine step forward in production technology and efficiency. The second reason is the combination of AI-enabled design software with the advanced materials Divergent has developed in-house, which together allow the company to produce vehicle structures of exceptional capability.
Through many processing and simulation cycles, the software arrives at a structure that achieves an optimal balance among all the stipulated attributes demanded by a given component. The result is a family of capable, lightweight structures that are both easier to manufacture and more structurally competent than their conventionally produced counterparts. The California-based company’s work is a revolutionary facet of the modern automotive industry, already underpinning the products of a growing number of high-end automakers.
Sources: Divergent Technologies, Czinger
