An Australian start-up is developing an innovative autonomous electric vehicle (EV) that will utilise a solar PV roof and lithium-ion battery system.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $2m in funding to Applied Electric Vehicles (AEV) to complete the next stage of its EV commercialisation. An early-stage prototype of AEV’s Modular Vehicle System (MVS) was showcased at the CES 19 tech convention in Las Vegas last year. Now the Melbourne-based robotics business is taking its solar-powered driverless EV to the next stage of development.
As part of this project, AEV will complete a pre-production prototype demonstrating the technology ahead of the final stages of design and testing. AEV’s vehicle will generate up to 60% of its energy requirements from the sun. Because its battery pack is smaller it can be charged by a common 240V wall socket, without special charging infrastructure.
AEV’s vehicles are designed for short trips at low speed, and could be used for a range of applications in delivery, agriculture, industry, waste management as well as passenger transport. AEV’s vehicles combine a lightweight design with a solar roof and high efficiency driveline.
ARENA’s funding will go towards solving energy-related challenges such as selection of appropriate solar PV technology, and optimising the vehicle’s mass, energy efficiency, solar gain and safety.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said this is a great example of Australian innovation utilising renewable energy in vehicles: “EVs are expected to play an important role in the coming decade in reducing the carbon footprint of transport. We hope to see AEV commercialise a homegrown driverless electric vehicle and be among the first to unlock the global driverless EV market.
“There is significant opportunity in the low-speed vehicle market, which is expected to gain considerable traction in cities, campuses and factories over the next decade. AEV’s project could also unlock new applications for solar such as integrating it into curved surfaces and demonstrating that solar PV can directly power high-efficiency electric vehicles.”
AEV’s CEO Julian Broadbent added: “Our project with ARENA is focusing on passenger vehicles but the learnings will be applied to other vehicles, helping to reduce the charging infrastructure burden as EVs roll-out globally. The MVS will offer companies access to transport that is cost effective, pedestrian friendly, gentle on the environment and very customisable to their business needs.