Research Projects - Vehicle Concepts and Design

Concept study

Motivated by a constantly increasing need for mobility, coupled with a progressive demand for climate-neutral mobility, the "Konzeptstudie E-Jet" has investigated the tension between pedal-driven vehicles and the classic car. With the financial support of the Hans Hermann Voss Foundation and the intensive involvement of student work, the ika has developed an ultra-light vehicle with serial bio-hybrid drive based on the L7e vehicle class. In this context, bio-hybrid describes a combination of electric and pedal drive, as can already be found in pedelecs today.

Three development strands were pursued. On the one hand, a drive topology and control system were presented that supports the driver's pedal moment without latency. This makes it possible to create a symbiotic connection between driver and vehicle. A serial plug-in hybrid structure was planned in which the pedalling movement of the driver is used as a setpoint for the longitudinal control of the vehicle on the one hand and feeds electrical energy into the drive system via a torque-controlled generator on the other. This allows the drive-by-wire system to achieve a higher range. The drivetrain and pedal unit were prototypically constructed and integrated into a rolling prototype in order to experience the latency-free acceleration support.

A second development goal was to research a new type of steering system. The lateral guidance of the vehicle is not controlled by the steering wheel in front of the driver, as in a traditional car, but by a half-open segment arc that surrounds the driver. The Steering Bow offers advantages in terms of access and visibility, particularly for sporty seating positions, and provides additional space for the legs during the use of the pedal drive. The curved steering was prototypically constructed and tested in a static driving simulator.

The third line of research was the investigation of the potential of active aerodynamic surfaces to influence driving dynamics. The extremely low weight, coupled with an aerodynamically optimised design and a space-saving package design, opens up new areas of application for active aerodynamics even in speed ranges below 100 km/h. The studies on active aerodynamics were carried out on the basis of CFD simulations and their influence on vehicle dynamics was analysed using multi-body simulations. A wind tunnel test is carried out to validate the simulation results.