A team of students from Eindhoven University of Technology has developed a modular electric city car that anyone can repair themselves. The prototype relies on interchangeable components and open technology and is intended to advance sustainability in the automotive industry.
The costs of repairs to your own car have continued to rise in recent years. This is also confirmed by the consumer price index for car repairs in Germany.
Between 2020 and 2024 alone, the prices for car repairs rose by an average of 27 percent. Increasing labor costs in the workshops, higher energy and material costs as well as increased prices for spare parts are, among other things, responsible for this price development.
But the increasing technical complexity of modern vehicles also makes repairs more time-consuming and requires specialized personnel. Students at Eindhoven University of Technology want to change this with their Aria electric city car. Because this should enable even laypeople to repair it themselves.
How can you repair this electric car yourself?
The students at TU Eindhoven are pursuing ambitious goals with their project. With their modular city car, they want to inspire, among other things, the automotive industry and encourage European politics to rethink.
This is supposed to be made possible by the sustainable electric city car Aria, which was developed by the students as part of a project. With this, users can carry out repairs themselves and are no longer dependent on a workshop appointment – especially for minor defects.
To achieve this goal, the students assembled the electric city car from separate components. The battery, body parts and electronics in the interior are modular and can be replaced or repaired individually.
If one of these parts is defective, it should even be possible for the driver to replace it himself. An app that can display the vehicle status provides help. The integrated toolbox is also designed so that basic repairs can be carried out without a visit to the workshop.
Intelligent design should make electric cars more durable
Repairing electric cars has become increasingly difficult and complicated in recent years. According to the researchers, this leads to cars being scrapped faster than necessary in cases of doubt. “This undermines the sustainable image of electric vehicles,” explains Ecomotive team leader Taco Olmer from TU Eindhoven.
Aria, on the other hand, relies on a modular design. The electric car’s battery, for example, consists of six smaller modules, each weighing around twelve kilos. These can be removed individually and easily replaced if there is a defect.
The battery has a total capacity of 12.96 kilowatt hours. This means that the Aria electric car should have a range that is actually only suitable for city traffic.
The researchers are primarily aiming for a rethink at the EU level. Their goal is to enforce the right to repair for electric vehicles and thus promote sustainability, consumer protection and a longer service life of the vehicles.
“The new European regulations are a step forward, but focus primarily on household appliances and consumer electronics,” said Olmer. “With Aria we show what is possible and hope to persuade the EU to apply these regulations to cars too.”
Olmer emphasizes that the development of Aria is also a nod to the automotive industry “that sustainable and practical design is actually feasible.” “If we can implement this within a year, it will open up opportunities for the industry.”
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