Suspension design for Uniti, a lightweight urban electric vehicle

Abstract: Climate change is real and the automotive industry is no longer in denial that electrification of vehicles is the future. But what if there is a better solution to meeting the commuting requirements in an urban environment than a form of a car that we are so familiar with? Something which gives the freedom of mobility like a car but is more practical. Perhaps a Uniti? Uniti aims at providing a smart solution to urban commute, something which is sustainable, fun and in step with the strides made in technology. This involved starting from a clean slate and attacking the very fundamental problem; a two-ton machine meant for carrying four to five people being used by only one person for majority of its lifespan, which makes all the more less sense in an urban environment. Hence came into life Uniti; a lightweight electric vehicle in the L7e category designed to be the second family car. Designing such a vehicle from the standpoint of vehicle dynamics is tricky as the user shapes the mass of the vehicle significantly. The driver and passenger in this vehicle accounts for almost a quarter of the total weight. That along with the high unsprung mass coming with the use of in wheel electric motors makes this project all the more challenging. The thesis is aimed at providing a starting point to build on to a robust suspension design. The fundamentals of vehicle dynamics were used to build up mathematical models in MATLAB and simulations were done with ADAMS/Car to study and optimize the design. All said and done the scope of the work was limited considering it had to be built from scratch but the models developed and the concepts laid out would hopefully be a good foundation to develop it into the prefect one.