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Electric vehicle user-centric design for optimised energy efficiency
Deadline: Feb 1, 2017  
CALL EXPIRED

 Energy Efficiency
 Sustainable Development
 Design
 Horizon Europe
 Climate Sciences

Topic Description
Specific Challenge:

Increasing the range of vehicles, and in particular EVs, requires the minimisation of the overall energy consumption of which a significant share, depending strongly on the ambient conditions, is often due to the systems (for de-icing/de-fogging, heating, cooling, etc.) required to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the vehicle occupants. Correspondingly, there is a need to focus on all aspects of the user-centric design of EVs (mainly cars, with potential synergies with heavier vehicles) from the perspective of energy consumption in order to develop advanced solutions which will enable the range of the vehicle to be increased significantly without compromising safety, EV users requirements, all factors that directly affect the competitiveness of EVs with respect to conventional vehicles.

Scope:

Proposals should address all the following aspects:

―Analysis of all aspects of the user-centric design of vehicles which directly or indirectly impact energy consumption in a significant way (including visibility, thermal comfort, HMI, ergonomics, postural comfort, noise and vibration, etc.) that may require the development of new methodologies and design tools. Consideration should be taken of gender aspects and other demographic factors such as ageing.

―Development of solutions, including the application of novel materials, to improve the thermal insulation of vehicles and hence reduce the energy consumption needs over a wide range of ambient conditions.

―Integration of advanced systems and components, and their control, considering also preconditioning, in order to optimise occupant comfort and well-being with respect to energy consumption.

―Reducing the weight and thermal inertia of systems and components (including the windshield and window, seats, dashboard, trim, etc.) in the vehicle in order to improve efficiency without reducing performance.

―Implementation and testing of the different solutions at the full vehicle level in order to ensure that the safety (including during and after crash) and perception of comfort and well-being remain uncompromised.

An assessment of the applicability of the solutions developed across different types of EVs should be carried out.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 7 and 10 million each would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact:

Actions are expected to increase 25% the electric drive range of EVs across a wide extent of ambient conditions. This improvement will be achievable on production in the short- to medium-term. Actions will contribute to climate action and sustainable development objectives by achieving an improved energy efficiency without compromising in terms of both the performance of the respective systems and components (including de-icing/de-fogging, heating, cooling, lighting) and the safety, comfort and well-being of the vehicle occupants. Furthermore, through comprehensive impact assessment, the solutions will be demonstrated to be viable in terms of cost and production, and the potential improvement in the competitiveness of EVs with respect to conventional vehicles in the long-term will be analysed.



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