Design Study of a Three-Wheeled Urban Electric Vehicle

Abstract

This thesis documents the development study of a three-wheeled electric urban vehicle through its initial design stages, which includes needs analysis, development of rough order-of-magnitude calculations, and concept design. To account for limited time and resources, the scope of design considerations is restricted to ergonomics, linear performance, cornering dynamics and crashworthiness. In the needs analysis stage, the requirements in each area of consideration are investigated, culminating in a set of specifications. Rough order-of-magnitude calculations were then developed to check specification compliance of potential concepts. Finally, a concept is designed to demonstrate application of the initial calculations.