Sep 30, 2009, 16:43 GMT
Frankfurt - An interdisciplinary team of students from Germany and Macedonia presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) a project designed to make car sharing of electric vehicles an affordable choice.
The team from the German University of Aachen and the University Ss Cyrill and Methodius in Skopje, Macedonia was confronted with the task of how to solve the main problems currently confronting electric vehicles - the short range and reducing the cost of between 16,000-20,000 euros (23,000-29,000 dollars) of lithium-ion batteries.
'We took an interdisciplinary approach right from the start in merging the know-how from marketing, construction and design,' said Professor Andreas Gebhardt from the University of Aachen, one of the three professors who managed the project.
The result: An electric car designed for family use, seating four people. Because of the high battery costs the purchasing of the car for individual use was excluded from the start. 'We had to find a way of merging the interests of the owners leasing the vehicle and the users,' according to Gebhardt.
Logistics became a big issue with plans of how to set-up a car sharing scheme with a speedy exchange of vehicles and limiting production costs of the vehicles. Now the team is seeking project partners to implement the scheme.
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