Light Electric Vehicles for Muscle–Battery Electric Mobility in Circular Economy: A Comprehensive Study

Abstract

Light electric vehicles (LEVs) facilitate a significant reduction in global warming potential (GWP) and other environmental impacts related to specific transport performance due to their lightweight construction. Low-voltage systems in the drive engine, an open vehicle design and online vehicle data processing allow LEVs to be repaired by independent workshops, thus enabling long vehicle use as well as conversion or retrofitting for periods of use beyond 20 years. LEVs are not yet very common in everyday life in Western Europe. In order to support the acceptance of muscle power-supported LEVs in the EU L7e registration class by users, the vehicle design and construction specifically address requirements in the areas of last-mile parcel delivery and other transport services, including passenger transport. Life cycle assessment was used to investigate two construction methods for LEVs, mixed construction and fibre composite construction, in terms of the production, service life phase and end of life. A vehicle configuration was developed which, in addition to resource-saving production and long-life operation, enables easy access for users and maintenance of the LEV for various purposes. The resource efficiency of light electric vehicles was proven with regard to the ecological aspects. The vehicle design shown here shows high potential for LEVs in the circular economy.

Mode decomposed passivity-based speed control of DC drive with bidirectional Zeta-SEPIC DC-DC converter for light electric vehicles

“…Based on (1), (5), and ( 7)-( 11), the interconnection matrix, the damping matrix, and the port matrix of the subsystem are described by the following expressions:…”

“…LEVs come in various shapes and serve multiple purposes, particularly in urban and suburban areas [3]. This group includes personal LEVs for micromobility, such as e-bikes, kick escooters, and electric two-wheelers, as well as the L7e-C category of LEVs with a rated power up to 15 kW and a maximum speed up to 90 km/h [4,5].…”

Optimizing stiffness and lightweight design of composite monocoque sandwich structure for electric heavy quadricycle

“…The lightweight design and low carbon footprint are prominent elements of the L7e. Nonetheless, the structural strengths of the L7e require considerable improvement since the overall dimensions are smaller and there are fewer regulations for the safety of L7e than conventional passenger cars (Kongwat et al, 2022;Redelbach et al, 2014;Wüstenhagen et al, 2021). Thus, it is crucial that a structurally stiff and safe design is developed to improve the overall performance of the L7e.…”

Safety Assessment and Crash Compatibility of Heavy Quadricycle under Frontal Impact Collisions

“…In recent years, sustainable automotive design has gained progressive interest, namely regarding the design of automotives with a lightweight structure and efficient fuel economy to tackle environmental issues. Small lightweight electric vehicles, such as an electric heavy quadricycle categorized by the EU as an L7e vehicle, is an alternative that could deliver a solution in traffic mitigation for the future urban individual mobility with limited space conditions [1][2][3]. Motorized quadricycles also offer a lower carbon footprint and high energy consumption efficiency in the battery mass to total vehicle mass ratio [4].…”