https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/local-firm-aev-robotics-plugs-into-demand-for-electric-car-modules/news-story/1aba8d9f68e0e78524d82792529ae008 Local firm AEV Robotics plugs into demand for electric car modules January 7, 2019 Chris Griffith attending [ ces.tech ] 2019 in Las Vegas [NV.us] courtesy of [ hisense.com.au ]
[image https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/64039f3d8244ca36fe323805199e0c43 A lightweight modular electric vehicle developed by Australian company AEV Robotics ] An Australian firm plans to start assembling lightweight, modular electric cars locally by 2021. AEV Robotics said the vehicles consist of a common robotic base that supports a purpose-built module that sits on top. One version of the car could operate ride-sharing with driverless operation while others could be geared to deliver goods, waste management and medical services. The local start-up said it had been working in secret for more than three years on developing the modular system, which it plans to market globally. Chief executive Julian Broadbent said the vehicles were designed to be slow-moving in built-up urban areas. “Instead of adding technology to upgrade traditional cars, we’ve started from a clean sheet and built a completely new type of vehicle,” he said. “Definitely 2021 is our target. “We thought it was a really interesting opportunity to reconsider how vehicles evolved over the last 100 years and what they would look like if you took a clean sheet.” Mr Broadbent said the vehicles would be made at a factory in Croydon in Melbourne’s east “certainly for the first period when the volumes are low enough and the margin can be supported”, but inevitably, with current labour costs, larger production would take place in Asia. The project is a return to familiar territory for Mr Broadbent as he was a director of advanced global planning at General Motors in Detroit. He was also director for an innovation organisation. There were reports a few years ago of a Commodore being converted into an “electric supercar” but it never got off the ground. Mr Broadbent said the company was financed with founder equity, an angel round and several seed rounds. “I would say that it’s quite a number of millions of dollars that have gone into this. And it isn’t just investment. We’ve actually been selling our technology to industry partners and strategic partners and things like that. Through those partnerships were generated sales.” The partnerships involved various types of “functional pods” that sit on the robotic base and meet the needs of different organisations. The company offers developer access to different types of businesses that may want to build vans, sedan cars or other types of vehicles on the common base. He said partners would design their modules and AEV Robotics would produce them. Mr Broadbent said the vehicles were designed for “low-speed” operation, a form of vehicle allowed to operate under special legislation. “We are seeing the speed limit of cities around the world dropped to what is now an industry standard, 40km/h, for example.” He said the US would probably be the vehicles’ first market as it had had the legal framework in place for a decade. “They have ready-made legislation for these vehicles in terms of their size and have a model operating a load speed environment.” ... The Lowdown Maximum speed: 40km/h Weight: less than 1000kg Power: Electric, plus solar panels Base: Contains electrics, motor, batteries and computer Body: Attachable pods for different roles — ridesharing, parcel delivery, food delivery, waste management [© theaustralian.com.au] http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-spied-PV-AEV-lurking-MelbourneU-w-hot-swappable-body-tp4692183.html EVLN: (spied)> PV-AEV lurking @MelbourneU w/ hot-swappable body Dec 15, 2018 AEV Robotics ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=aev+Robotics&sort=date For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
