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Welcome to G-Car

 Welcome to G-Car

I need to build a car from scratch. It needs to carry at least 6 passengers, be based on solar power and should not pollute the air nor contribute to noise pollution.
You guessed it: It's gotta be electric. But... electric has so many troubles - range, power, cost? Well, that's what engineers are for; to reduce cost, increase range and power.
But why? Easy: Tuktuk. Noisy, rough, ugly, dangerous, highly polluting. They should have been banned years ago except their  home country is too democratic - the citizens would riot.

The Engineering

The engineering process is well established:
  1.     Establish the sort of vehicle needed by the tuktuk sector - typically short urban rides
  2.     Determine the technical requirements of such a vehicle
  3.     Consider the technological options and the feasibility of producing a vehicle at the desired price point of about KES200,000 - 300,000.
  4.     Establish our engineering and manufacturing capabilities, hence, the parts of the design and production that we need to outsource.
  5.     Create a project team and finance the first prototype design and production
  6.     Produce a prototype
  7.     Use prototype to test the market and to identify areas of improvement
  8.     Mobile resource to build a production plant and finance the first 100 vehicles
  9.     Produce and sell the first 100
  10.     Upscale and continue to refine
  11.     Consider a family/business e-car.KE within 5years.
  12.     Explore the regional market - BI, CD, ET, SO, SS, RW, UG. TZ,

Key Design Elements

  •     Frame and shell - safety, durability, cost, comfort, aesthetics
  •     Suspension - safety, comfort, durability
  •     Prime mover and transmission - torque, range, control, safety
  •     Braking and steering
  •     Electric and lighting
  •     Control and UI [Includes UI, UX, IxD]
  •     Software - control, diagnostics, navigation and tracking
  •     Passenger and driver facilities - seats, phone chargers, wifi...
© Jason M. Githeko, 2017

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