Avatar-project

Submission date 10. Dezember 2020 Founders Frédéric Mourier Entwicklungsort Frankreich

Das Projekt im Überblick

NB: Dieses Formular wird ausschließlich von den Personen, die die Innovation vorschlagen, ausgefüllt.

Welches Problem wird gelöst?

Observation: an average of 1.3 occupants per vehicle, to drive an average of 15 km per day, at 33 km/h ... But 90% of users are around these values on the ad hoc Gauss curves. Current vehicles are much too heavy, oversized, and not very energy-efficient, especially for these practical daily uses. Using them is a bit like using a fixed workstation instead of a laptop or a tablet when you don't usually need huge capacities; or using a dishwasher to wash a plate and a glass; taking a commercial airliner for a local flight of a few people, etc, etc. It's just inappropriate and multiplied by the number of people on a country-wide or global scale, it's extremely and dramatically impactful. It is one of the biggest impacts of human activities in fact, even though we know scientifically and technically how to reduce it. Moreover, not all journeys can be made on foot, by bicycle or bus, streetcar, etc. It lacks flexibility, capacity to carry other passengers or loads, autonomy, protection against bad weather or other vehicles...

Wie wird es gelöst?

Our solution was described to us and dreamed up by the users themselves to help us formalize it. It is an ultra-efficient, clean, light, accessible, practical, easy to maintain, and recyclable vehicle. It is the missing link between these mobility solutions to respond economically and ecologically to this problem. (an oral explanation in the video on Youtube (in French): https://youtu.be/8XU2tZZrUsI ) We are therefore developing a platform of light vehicles (<300 kg unladen) efficient motorized, Open Source, adapted to local contexts (materials, parts, and motorization adapted if necessary). They will integrate relevant innovations as they are developed. The initial thinking is based on an optimized design, a minimization of the number of parts and materials used, chosen for their durability and properties (weight, mechanical strength, and flexibility, recycled and recyclable). The first vehicle will be approved L7 in France (light quadricycle for 4 people, maximum speed of 90 km/h), which makes it possible to answer the daily family uses and also professional for the transport of people and also logistic for the transport "of the last miles" in particular.

Wer sind die potenziellen Kunden?

All the people (physical and moral) of the rural and peri-urban territories who are obliged to take a car for their daily trips, for lack of alternative... In France and in the world. More concretely, our deployment strategy implies starting with local professional fleets (local authorities, internal company fleets, car-sharing) for which we have test agreements for our prototyping phases with several services, public or not, linked to the La Rochelle Agglomeration in particular. This will allow us: to access the first users who are more sensitive to the cost of use than to the selling price in our pre-industrialization phase, to reach a large commercial target more easily, and to be able to guarantee an ongoing and easy maintenance of the first models. The market for professional fleets will represent 755,000 new registrations in 2020, 13% of which will be electric vehicles. We address all vehicles (thermal and electric) that are used locally. At the same time, and thanks to a community of enthusiasts, we will target the market of people who are aware of the urgency of the situation and who cannot do without vehicles. Once the vehicle is known, it can be adopted as the 2nd vehicle for families, that is to say more than 10 million potential vehicles in France, according to equipment rates in 2017 recorded by the Insee. The vehicle being affordable and functional in its uses, it could also constitute a first vehicle and access to individualized means of mobility for households currently lacking their own means of transportation. It will thus contribute to the opening up and breaking the isolation of certain populations.

Inwiefern differenziert sich diese Lösung von anderen?

Our innovation is based on several pillars: - Firstly, analysis and measurement of the needs of intergenerational users, from which the vehicle's specifications are derived: "Describe the ideal vehicle." - Secondly, an analysis of the vehicle's entire life cycle, i.e. the search for absolute efficiency: the least amount of grey energy, from design to end of life, and the least amount of energy consumed during use, the most aerodynamic design and the most streamlined vehicle. - the desire to progressively integrate into our vehicle platform the best-emerging technologies according to their cost (€ and CO2) / benefit balance, such as the use of robust, resilient, recycled, and easily recyclable materials; more environmentally friendly batteries, reducing or excluding rare metals and the most polluting metals, or reusing parts of second-hand batteries; regenerative braking, on-board photovoltaic production, or offering several motorization and energy solutions, depending on use and location, highly efficient tires (but why not regenerated from old ones). Our Open Source approach aims at identifying and integrating these new efficient technologies thanks to community monitoring. The goal is to have a vehicle whose LCA is continuously improving. - By a fair balance between low-tech and high-tech, but always in a minimalist way, on the principle of Saint Exupéry: "perfection is reached, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to remove! ". "First developments": In phase 1 we wish to move quickly towards the marketing of the first reliable "MVP" vehicles, manufactured individually, first by using off-the-shelf solutions and then by gradually manufacturing specific parts. Subsequently, investments will be made in adapted industrial tools. This will allow us to launch mass production progressively. From this moment on, purchases by quantity can be made. They will allow to reduce the selling price significantly while increasing the volumes of sales and in the end also the global margin, making the vehicles at the same time more accessible and more competitive. "Second development: In parallel (or later) according to our means, we wish to make on the duration of the continuous improvement by the R&D. The latter will also be influenced by feedback from vehicles in circulation thanks to "open" contributions in collective intelligence. These developments will focus in particular on weight reduction, reliability, and service life: - Work on weight reduction is planned by improving the power density of electric motors. The objective is to achieve several kWh of power per kilo of onboard motor, thanks to additive manufacturing processes that also reduce the amount of material lost during production. - improvements will be made to the batteries. We will be looking at the use or participation in the development of less impactful technologies. The following avenues could be considered: reuse of cells still in operation on batteries at the end of their life, more compact, more efficient, and cleaner batteries of the future, developments around graphene, etc. - developments in on-board photovoltaic production are planned. The surface area of the collector can be increased, in particular through the use of transparent or semi-transparent panels, and flexible or thermo-formable panels. The aim is to move towards an energy-independent vehicle (particularly for export to countries and island areas with a lot of sunshine) that can still be recharged from the grid. - More broadly, areas for improvement have also been identified in terms of energy storage, beyond the (small) capacity needed to charge our vehicles quickly. To accelerate and simplify the charging time, we are working on induction charging sites without plugging in. We even plan to introduce light, easily removable battery racks for maintenance purposes as well as for immediate recharging by minute replacement. - Concerning tires, we will explore the already mastered possibility of regenerated tires (reloaded with material, molded, and/or retreaded). Once a sufficient volume of vehicles has been reached, the creation and production of a tire profile dedicated to the characteristics of our vehicle (but not exclusive) with a major producer could be envisaged - Work on complementary materials is also anticipated. The aim will be to increase further their technical, economic, safety, and, of course, environmental performance. In this case, the materials and their design will ensure that the vehicle as a whole is a kind of crash box that is extremely protective, aerodynamic, light, repairable, and recyclable. We are also anticipating the fact that certain parts, notably the chassis, can be made with other materials that are more available and appropriate in certain countries, both for manufacturing and for maintenance. Finally, we will expand the field of possibilities and the market, by declining our Avatars in half-width versions with 3 wheels and 2 seats in tandem, using the same production equipment as for the 4-seater. More spacious versions with more autonomy and speed for the M1 segment will also be considered later on. Later on, amphibious and even flying versions could be considered on the basis of the same interior. - Finally, throughout, additional work will be carried out on social innovation, in order to give back purchasing power to users, to facilitate home/work journeys everywhere, and to fulfil new social functions with a view to meeting mobility needs.