New Paradigm for Urban Vehicle Technologies

交通拥堵是世界各地大城市日益严重的问题，并将随着人口的增加而继续恶化。到2050年，全球道路上的车辆数量预计将翻两番，达到近30亿辆，而城市核心区的道路数量预计将保持大致相同。每辆车的平均乘坐人数约为1.6人;现有车辆的空间利用率极低。为了缓解大城市的交通拥堵和相关污染，电动城市车辆的普及正在获得动力。电动城市车辆的优势部分在于其多功能性;除了四轮配置外，这些车辆还可以拥有三轮配置，其中一个车轮位于前部或后部。车辆也可以有前轮、后轮或全轮转向。在某些司法管辖区，狭窄的城市车辆能够分车道行驶，在自行车道上行驶，并停放在非常规空间。城市车辆在缓解交通拥堵和缓解停车短缺方面具有巨大潜力。目前形式的城市车辆基本上是乘用汽车的缩小版。这种按比例缩小的方法对车辆的安全性、可用性、燃料消耗、热负荷、功率管理以及随后的客户接受度施加了严重的限制。例如，如在传统的乘用汽车中，现有的城市车辆被设计成具有在车轮外部的悬架和动力系，其主要通过安装件和机械连杆连接。因此，机械部件及其连接仍然需要相当大的体积，否则可以用于增加乘客空间。通过将悬架和动力系统集成到车轮中，并通过用x-by-wire系统取代机械连杆，可以显著减少城市车辆的空间和重量。考虑到这种设计方法，大多数城市车辆通常不足的内部空间可以显着增加。此外，这种设计消除了许多动力系统部件，并在降低车辆质量的同时提供了更大的空气动力学车身造型灵活性，所有这些都大大提高了能源效率。探索计划的主要目标是为城市车辆技术开发一种新的范例，以便在非常节省时间的过程中设计出高燃油效率，更安全，更具成本效益的城市车辆。

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in large cities around the world and will continue to worsen as populations increase. The number of vehicles on the road worldwide is expected to quadruple to nearly 3 billion by 2050, while the number of roadways is expected to remain approximately the same in city cores. The average number of occupants of a single vehicle is about 1.6 persons; the space of current vehicles is highly underutilized.******To alleviate traffic congestion and associated pollution in large cities, the prevalence of electric urban vehicles are gaining momentum. The advantages of electric urban vehicles are in part due to their versatility; in addition to four-wheel configuration, these vehicles could host a three-wheel configuration with one wheel in the front or rear. The vehicles could also have front, rear, or all wheel steering. In some jurisdictions, narrow urban vehicles are able to lane-split, travel on bike lanes, and park in unconventional spaces. Urban vehicles have a huge potential to relieve traffic congestion and alleviate parking shortages.******Urban vehicles in their current form are essentially scaled down versions of passenger cars. This scaled down approach imposes serious limitations on the safety, usability, fuel consumption, thermal loads, power management, and subsequently, customer acceptance of the vehicle. For example, as in conventional passenger cars, existing urban vehicles are designed with the suspension and powertrain external to the wheels that are connected primarily through mounts and mechanical linkages. Therefore, a significant volume is still needed for mechanical components and their connections, which could otherwise be used for added passenger space. It is possible to significantly reduce the space and weight of urban vehicles by integrating the suspension and powertrain into the wheels, and by replacing mechanical linkages with x-by-wire systems. Considering this design approach, the often inadequate interior space of most urban vehicles can be significantly increased. Moreover, this design eliminates many powertrain components and provides more flexibility in aerodynamic body shaping while lowering vehicle mass, all leading to vastly improved energy efficiency.******The primary goal of the proposed Discovery program is to develop a new paradigm for urban vehicle technologies to allow the design of highly fuel efficient, safer, and cost effective urban vehicles in a very time efficient process.