A vehicle needs a cab and a drive. But do they both have to be a single unit? Researcher of the DLR work on different concepts for that automobile the future. One of them is a modular vehicle that can be used for a variety of purposes.
from
Werner Pluta
March 22, 2019, 12:01 pm
Next Generation Car: A family of vehicles from a controlled small car to a self-propelled people mover
(Image: DLR)
How do we want to be mobile in the future? By train or car – and if the latter: with your own or a rented one? And does the vehicle still have to be a unit, as it is today, or can it be made up of different modules that can be put together as required?
Content:
A modular car
U-Shift is still going on
Researchers are involved in these questions Project Next Generation Car, in which 20 institutes of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) cooperate. According to DLR, the goal is to develop concepts for the “road vehicles of the next but one generation” – analogous to the Train project Next Generation Train, To do this, the scientists and technicians work on different projects, at the end of which there is not necessarily a finished car. It can also only go to individual parts.
At the Safe Light Regional Vehicle (SLRV), for example, it is a novel bodywork technology. The vehicle is on four-wheeled light electric vehicle for two persons, which should weigh only about 450 kg. This is made possible by the so-called Sandwich: The body should consist of two layers of metal and a plastic foam in between. This design, which is also used in aircraft or boat construction, allows high rigidity with relatively low weight.
The SLRV is intended as a commuter and feeder vehicle, with which workers from the surrounding countryside can travel to work in the city and also take a longer trip. The car has a fuel cell drive and a range of about 400 km.
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Trenkwalder Personaldienste GmbH, Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Another project is that Urban Modular Vehicle (UMV), a city vehicle based on a platform on which a number of vehicles, called derivatives, are to be built. Six derivatives of the UMV So far, the DLR researchers have designed, such as the Basic, a 3.70-meter small car for four passengers with two 25-kilowatt motors.
The derivative Long, however, is more of a city family vehicle: It is 40 cm longer, has room for more luggage and four more battery stacks and is therefore equipped with two 30-kilowatt motors. The Derivative Cargo is a two-seater with a larger cargo area and intended for craftsmen, for example.
In the Next Generation Car project, DLR is developing vehicle concepts based on a single platform. (Image: DLR)
The concept is similar to the modular electrification kit (MEB) from Volkswagen, which in addition to VW also includes other brands of the group, for example Audito use for their electric cars. VW even considers the MEB To make available to third-party manufacturers,
What distinguishes the UMV from the MEB, but is that the DLR think the concept even further, said Marco Münster of the DLR Institute for Vehicle Concepts in Stuttgart Golem.de.
Topics Pages:
DLR
automobile
Automotive
Autonomous driving
fuel cell car
electric car
electromobility
sustainability
Connected driving
technology
science