Abstract
Keywords - 3-wheel, electric propulsion, mobility, mechatronics, tilting vehicle
Sustainable urban mobility can be achieved by means of advanced light vehicles equipped with electric motors. Tilting 3-wheel vehicles are very promising, because they can retain both the handling features of 2-wheel vehicles and the stability and load capability of 4-wheel vehicles. In the framework of this research a new electric 3-wheel vehicle characterized by a tilting module with the front wheel and a non-tilting rear module with two wheels has been developed. The connection between the tilting module and the rear module is a four-bar linkage, which gives some benefits in terms of equilibrium and stability that are discussed in the paper. The electric propulsion relies on innovative devices. The traction equipment consists of two Permanent Magnet (PM) brushless DC motors embedded in the rear wheels of the vehicle (hub motors). The power converters feeding the motors are equipped with Mosfets and controlled by a microprocessor. The energy source subsystem consists of a Lithium-ion battery of Cobalt type, 7 cells are mounted on the tilting module and 6 cells are mounted on the rear module. The measured performance of the vehicle is adequate for urban mobility with a range of about 100 km (urban cycle).