Abstract
Research and/or Engineering Questions/Objective
The growing demand for individual mobility, increasing number of cars and rising car dimensions require actions to improve the parking situation in urban areas through new vehicle and alternative transportation concepts. Because of the small interior space and the comparatively poor driving comfort, customer benefit of current city cars is limited. Based on alternative vehicle packaging and new chassis technologies, new vehicle concepts can be created to improve the parking situation in cities and fulfill important customer requirements at the same time.
Methodology
During the development of a new city car, special focus has been set on chassis and suspension concepts for a variable wheelbase. The vehicle wheelbase is a significant variable for the external and internal dimensions of a vehicle, as well as for the driving behavior on various road conditions. To exploit parking space and to offer an easy exit for the passengers, it was desirable to keep the length of the parked vehicle very low. Another important concern was a cost-efficient solution for the variable wheelbase mechanism. In this paper, current urban car concepts with variable wheelbase technologies are investigated and a new urban car concept (EvoCare) is presented. Furthermore, the parking space and costumer benefit of the new car concept is discussed.
Results
The requirements on driving comfort, good driving behavior, small parking and maneuvering spaces, as well as low production costs, are essential for future successful urban car concepts. Based on these challenging issues, a space and cost saving urban car concept was developed. In “parking mode” the vehicle length of the concept is limited to less than 2.1 meters, which allows parking perpendicular to the road. The novel folding mechanism and folding strategy provides a simple and cost efficient solution for a variable wheelbase.
Limitations of this study
The study represents a car concept with variable wheelbase and a novel packaging of the entire vehicle. The benefit of the concept car in urban areas is described. The principal function of the suspension mechanism for the folding process will be explained. The development status focusses on a conceptual representation of new ideas; in this way the paper does not represent a mass production vehicle.
What does the paper offer that is new in the field including in comparison to other work by the authors?
Very new is the smart packaging solution of heavy car components and the folding mechanism, which does not need additional propulsion systems, like electric motors, hydraulic or pneumatic linear actuators. In contrast to existing urban car concepts, the EvoCare concept represents a simple and economically producible approach.
Conclusions
This paper represents an urban car concept with a new vehicle packaging design and innovative folding mechanism for a variable wheelbase, which allows small parking and maneuvering spaces. Furthermore, the concept provides a simple chassis solution, offers space for 3 passengers and saves parking space in the “parking mode”.
Key Words : urban car concept; individual urban transport; efficient parking; variable wheelbase