Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RESOLVE (Range of Electric SOlutions for L-category VEhicles)

Teaser

RESOLVE project aims at enabling the development of a range of cost-effective, energy efficient and comfortable ELVs (Electric L-category Vehicles) that will primarily attract ICE car drivers to switch to ELVs for daily urban commutes. EU cities are increasingly congested due...

Summary

RESOLVE project aims at enabling the development of a range of cost-effective, energy efficient and comfortable ELVs (Electric L-category Vehicles) that will primarily attract ICE car drivers to switch to ELVs for daily urban commutes.
EU cities are increasingly congested due to the demand and usage of motor vehicles that result in emissions and noise levels increase and scarcer parking, affecting the quality of life and health of city-dwellers. To tackle such problems, European-wide emission targets are becoming stricter and urban mobility plans are being drawn.
Future scenarios for EU urban centres see a modal shift in personal mobility from cars to lighter, smaller, more specialised and environmentally friendly alternatives.
ELVs are such alternatives that can cater to the average commuter’s needs because of their smaller size, lighter weight, lower on board energy requirement and thus smaller batteries, which supports lower costs and faster recharge.
However this modal shift has not been without challenges: many car drivers do not consider LVs as a viable and comfortable option.
To achieve that, the project will develop components and systems that meet the very low cost requirements for the segment, particularly modular and scalable LV-specific electric powertrains and battery architectures.
At the same time the project will deliver an exciting and attractive ELV driving experience by proposing new concepts (tilting & narrow track), while keeping the vehicle energy consumption at very low level.
All the advances will be demonstrated in two tilting four wheelers demonstrators ELVs (L2e and L6e category), though a large number of these advances will also be applicable to the complete range of ELVs (including powered-two wheelers).
RESOLVE objectives centre on the (further) development of elements for powertrain, chassis and driver wellbeing/information/experience that can be applied to a wide range of LVs.

RESOLVE objectives in terms of measureable indicators are:
1) To develop an integrated, scalable, modular range of fully electric LV drivetrains 

2) To showcase advances to State-of-the-Art (SotA) in two tilting four-wheelers demonstrators belonging to L2e and L6e categories with energy efficiencies on a realistic urban journey profile, with reference to the standard cycle and/or specific L-vehicle urban driving cycle to be investigated within RESOLVE. 

3) To improve the driver experience of ELVs. This includes developing a multi-wheel vehicle control algorithm that will improve handling/stability significantly validated by several performance parameters and HMI improvements that address range anxiety and driver concerns such as safety and comfort, as shown by user surveys. 

4) To make ELVs more attractive to car drivers, resulting in an increase in the percentage of car drivers that consider LVs as a viable alternative to their cars for their urban travel needs.

Work performed

RESOLVE first activities through a user survey and analysis of market potential were aimed at ensuring that vehicle demonstrators’ concept and technical solutions meet the needs of light personal mobility mainly addressed to urban and suburban areas. Moreover the outcomes of feasibility studies of different multi-wheels tilting vehicles architecture formed the basis for getting into technical specifications in terms of vehicle performances (powertrain, handling/stability, comfort) for the vehicles and powertrain components to be developed in the next activities.
Finally a preliminary Business Plan based on initial market analysis has been performed, formulating different hypotheses of business models to enter in the market.

Within the first 18 Months several activities have been carried out in order to achieve the above described final objectives.

1) E-motors with integrated inverters have been designed and delivered in order to be implemented in vehicle demonstrators, also using existing low-cost solution. Also an integrated component aimed at reducing cost through functional integration (i.e. reducing complexity) was designed and development is ongoing.
Also a common basic module for battery packs was defined, that ensures design flexibility and economies of scale, leading to cost reduction.
2) At M18 the design of layout and architecture for the two RESOLVE L2 and L6 demonstrators is almost completed. The detailed design of components is on its own way to be completed at M24. Technical specifications have been summarized in vehicle in specific data sheet.
Preliminary simulations of vehicle and powertrain performances have been carried out at early stage, also simulating the behaviour against reference cycle.
3) At M18 the work to develop algorithms for stability control, regenerative braking and smart range management functions are being developed (on going) driven by model based technology with automatic code generation. Preliminary activities were aimed at defining the electrical architecture and the design and simulation of the physical models for both demonstration vehicles. On the other hand, HMI concept is defined according with experts’ survey, as well as HMI architecture and functionalities and first prototype is realized to be assessed in terms of usability and then implemented in vehicle demonstrators.
4) In the Resolve Project, two demonstrators are proposed, one L2 and the other L6 category, both based on tilting four-wheelers architecture; the aim is to entice commuters to switch from car to electric light vehicles, offering enhanced active vehicle stability, better comfort and, in one case, weather protection respect to a conventional powered-two-wheelers. The two architectures have been designed as well as powertrains, transmissions and energy storage systems.

Final results

RESOLVE activities expect to have an impact on the items addressed in the proposal as follows:

• Energy consumption: preliminary performance simulations have been carried out in first project activites. Results of more detailed simulations will be analysed in next future and then vehicle performances will be assessed by means of real test.
• Net global emissions: as a consequence of reduction of energy consumption, even if it cannot be easily objectified
• Journey time and traffic congestion: proposed vehicle formula are such to make journey almost “congestion-insensitive” because not affected by traffic intensity and cues
• European economy and employment: RESOLVE is aimed at boosting the market of electric L-vehicles offering innovative and disruptive concepts, then to spread technical advances throughout a wide range of vehicles. Therefore economy and employment will benefit of this effect.
• Consumer satisfaction (cost savings): L-vehicles are considered intrinsically cheap. Even if most of the activities of RESOLVE will lead to cost reduction of components (i.e. modularity of battery packs and functional integration), customer satisfaction is mainly affected by Total Cost of Ownership. In the end willingness to use can be achieved with a systemic approach aimed at reducing Total cost of Ownership (i.e. vehicle sharing, battery swapping...)
• Traffic safety: Concept definition and design activities are aimed at providing RESOLVE demonstrators with advanced stability control measures.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.resolve-project.eu.