Chassis design of the aCar – a light commercial vehicle for Sub-Saharan Africa

The “aCar mobility” project is a publicly funded research project with the aim to provide the rural population of Sub-Saharan Africa an attractive mobility concept, which provides the basic need for mobility and connection of rural areas to urban infrastructure. Therefore, multiple usage scenarios need to be covered by the vehicle with a focus on transportation of people and goods. Some of the mobility concept requirements are design for local production, for easy maintenance and repairs, as well as for durability and maneuverability in near-off-road conditions. All design decisions were made with a special focus on manufacturing costs to provide an affordable vehicle to the customer. Combining all these requirements leads to an electric all-wheel-drive vehicle with a maximum speed of 60 km/h. Two 8 kW motors, one per axle, ensure proper propulsion of the 800 kg unladen weight also with a payload of 1000 kg.     «

The “aCar mobility” project is a publicly funded research project with the aim to provide the rural population of Sub-Saharan Africa an attractive mobility concept, which provides the basic need for mobility and connection of rural areas to urban infrastructure. Therefore, multiple usage scenarios need to be covered by the vehicle with a focus on transportation of people and goods. Some of the mobility concept requirements are design for local production, for easy maintenance and repairs, as wel...     »