DELIVER · Design of Electric LIght Vans for Environment-impact Reduction

CO2 emissions, noise emissions and other negative impacts caused by present urban delivery concepts and specifically by the delivery vehicles are unsustainable in present and future European urban life. Fully electric light delivery vehicles (LDV) not only offer zero local CO2 emissions and close-to-zero noise emissions.The change in propulsion technology from ICE to electric powertrains will lead to the integration of new components and systems, while others undergo changes or become obsolete. The possibility to integrate the electric motor into the wheel further increases the design freedom, especially if also suspension and regenerative braking can be integrated into it. This opens up new freedom in design and clears the way for new urban delivery vehicle concepts. DELIVER is to produce and physically showcase design research results that allow for full exploitation of this new freedom, while responding to changing future market demands.To achieve this key objective, the project generates, investigates and analyzes innovative design concepts for electric LDVs with motorized wheels. It delivers a range of advanced architectures which enable at least the same high level of intrinsic safety as known from current best in class conventional vehicles at minimal weight, maximised energy efficiency (40 % better than best-in-class ICE benchmark), optimized ergonomics & loading space at affordable costs as well as acceptable levels of comfort and driving performance.The program will culminate in a driving concept validation vehicle which will embody the optimum integration of systems as researched during the design and development stage. The purpose of the vehicle is to validate the research results with the highest degree of reality possible within the budget. Some specific targets will be verified by simulation such as crash.DELIVER can achieve substantial impact due to the strong involvement of leading industrial partners.