First Biocomposite Vehicle: PITCAR

Votes: 3
Views: 2479

This concept is the solution for short distance mobility of person and load (packages…) without noise in urban areas. The target of this product is to be used for leisure transportation in closed sites (circuit paddock, golf courses, airports…) and/or urban areas by individuals for their daily commuting but also by courier to deliver packages in buildings. It is an adaptable vehicle that could be used by disabled people since a wheeling chair can be loaded on it.

It is a fun and light vehicle (15 kg or 33 lbs) that will allow the driver to feel good sensations in closed circuit. It maximum speed is 25 km/h (15 mph).

The innovative idea of this concept is not only to have an electric vehicle but also it proposes a “green” alternative to traditional beam or body in white frames. Indeed, in this concept, the frame used for structural parts is made of biobased materials such as bamboo sandwich panels that are glued together.

It enables to demonstrate a perfect integration of green composites made with biosourced raw materials like fibers into tomorrow’s vehicles. It also enables to reach several objectives:

- Technical; with the design and sizing of an innovative frame (panels)
- Economical: raw materials cost, production cost and assembly cost will be reduced
- Environmental: reduce the vehicle weight but also greenhouse emissions (CO2, NOx..) due to frame manufacturing processes (shaping, soldering, paints…) and production and treatment of raw materials (extraction, cleaning, chemical and thermal treatments, transportation…), both highly energy consuming. Production of steel and aluminium, two materials widely used for frame manufacturing, requires large amount of fossil ressources.

The design proposed for this contest is not definitive and the reward of this contest could allow us to invest in a more creative design for this vehicle. The design will be adapted following the usage of the vehicle.
A prototype of this vehicle is ongoing (cf picture).
The name and the concept are already registered.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    David Hardy
  • Type of entry:
    team
    Team members:
    David Hardy Aline Rogeon
  • Profession:
    Engineer/Designer
  • Number of times previously entering contest:
    2
  • David's favorite design and analysis tools:
    we use the Femap/Nastran as analysis numerical tool and Solidworks as Design tool for the moment.
  • For managing CAD data David's company uses:
    SolidWorks PDMWorks Enterprise
  • David's hobbies and activities:
    Design office for the transportation
  • David is inspired by:
    All vehicles : Earth, Space and Ocean
  • Software used for this entry:
    Solidworks, Code Aster
  • Patent status:
    none