ELECTRIC
3 WHEELER
INTRODUCTION
The Graduation project 2021-22 was associated with Axiom India in collaboration with Nirmitsu Design. This team explores the newest and most unique methods of approaching a certain problem, resulting in the best solutions possible. The project mainly focuses on an E3W, an electric 3-wheeler, and slow mobility, which is the upcoming future. The purpose of this project was to acquire an in-depth knowledge of Automotive design and its other various aspects. This was a group project involving 2 members in total.
PERT CHART
The pert chart showcases the timeline of the project. It is a tentative date chart on which the milestones of the project was achieved.
RESEARCH
The research started with understanding what is mobility, its types, and the difference between shared and own mobility. It then advances to why electric vehicles have to be used in India? its advantages and disadvantages. As we have a variety of segments of vehicles based on the number of wheels, the question "Why 3 wheeler?" was asked, and the answers were found. By this part, it was decided that the work has to be carried out on an electric 3-wheeler. Now the research was carried out on the technical aspects of a 3 wheeler like Vehicle stability, Delta vs Tadpole and its advantages and disadvantages, the steering types that are available in the market and which can be used as a better solution for the EV, Tyres, Batteries and its connections and charging methods. After all these initial researches, the current design trend in India was analyzed based on which the design process can begin.
INITIAL DESIGN BRIEF
To design double seater E3W (electric 3-wheeler) for urban cities with a top speed of 25km/h (no driving license or paper required) and a range of 60-70 km, which can be a great alternative to the bike (with a cover overhead and dedicated luggage space.) for traveling within the city and for last-mile connectivity.
The target market for the vehicle is especially office going women, college students, housewives, and elder people.
CLIENT REQUIREMENTS / CONSTRAITS
One of the main goals of this project is to make the vehicle affordable and cost-effective. There are multiple ways of cutting the cost. But the main challenge is to do it without compromising the safety of the passenger.
Keeping these things in mind, the following points are made to cut down the total cost as much as possible.
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Max speed-: 25kmph (no paperwork and license are required).
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Range: 60-70 kph (will reduce the battery size and probably the cost)
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Minimizing unutilized body volume
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Making the dyes not more than two parts
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Compact but spacious at the same time
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Lead-acid battery usage (conventional batteries, easy to find and repair)
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Pre-defined body dimensions (wheelbase, wheel size, etc.)
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Low contact patch tires for better efficiency. (Thinner tires)
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Slow-speed hub motor (as it is a slow-mobility vehicle)
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Cold rolled steel pipes (better strength than standard hot rolled pipes)
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Tie-rod steering system (as it’s enough to hold the GVWR of around 200 with ease and is also a cheaper alternative).
FINAL DESIGN BRIEF
To design a 3-wheel tadpole configured Electric vehicle that can accommodate 2 people with sufficient boot space and reach a maximum speed of 25 – 30 kph with a maximum range of 60 kms per full charge, targeting office going women, college students, housewives and elderly men of urban cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, etc.
BASIC VEHICLE PACKAGING
The package technical layout is an initial conceptualization process to understand the basic layout and spacing that is to be allocated in the vehicle for different sections like the boot space, seating capacity, and positions, windshield position, etc that helps the designer to better understand the proportions of the vehicle.
CHASSIS DESIGN
The project started with the design and testing of the chassis. The work started by analyzing the chassis that was already available. Problems were identified in the existing chassis and were redesigned and rebuilt so as to get a firm, strong, fully-functional and drivable chassis.
STORYBOARDS
Storyboards allow the designer to visualize the user's actions as well as the emotions they feel during each interaction. This ultimately leads to a better user experience. Designers start to think through a process in a step-by-step manner, and it allows them to design in a streamlined way.
MOODBOARD
CONCEPT SKETCHES
FINAL SKETCHES
CAD ITERATIONS
The concept 3D CAD was modelled using Solidworks 2018. It involved the sculpting of the exterior body having the chassis CAD model as the base. It involved multiple iterations and versions before finalizing the form.
FINAL CAD MODEL
WIREFRAME & ZEBRA ANALYSIS
SURFACING STEPS
DIMENTIONS
PROTOTYPING
Prototyping of the chassis was carried out in the workshop where we utilized various equipment like cutter, grinder, driller, welding machine, pipe bending machine, etc. The electronic parts like hub motor, accelerator, and controller were outsourced and assembled to ensure the proper driving and testing of the chassis.
Steering assembly
Battery assembly
3D Printed body form
RENDERS
The CAD models were rendered using Keyshot 10. Renders are used to quickly visualize the realistic output of the final product by assigning materials and colors.
CONCEPT RENDERS
UTILITY RENDERS
