Alkè electric vehicles: maximum safety objective
Alkè has been aiming to maximise the safety of its electric vehicles for years. An important step has been achieved through collaboration in URBANIZED project, where Alkè has been working on the development of a new electric platform for urban use. At the heart of the URBANIZED project is the need to guarantee passive safety standards that are significantly higher than those on the market today for similar vehicles. Participation in this project underlines the commitment of Alkè to experimenting with safer, more efficient and integrated solutions for urban transport needs.
Benefits of passive safety in light commercial vehicles
- Increased protection against frontal and side impacts even for small vehicles normally used at low speeds
- Reduction of deformable zones in the passenger compartment while ensuring adequate energy absorption in frontal impacts
- High safety standards for all vehicle occupants, not just the driver
Safety in LCVs
In response to the growing importance of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in urban environments, the goal of the Urbanized project and thus of Alkè development team was to redesign a vehicle tailored for last-mile delivery solutions, prioritising energy efficiency, cost reduction and user safety. The project involved restyling and implementing structural reinforcements to Alkè N1 category electric vehicles. Safety and comfort were the main focal points during the redesign of the interior and chassis. We strengthened the safety levels for frontal and side impacts, while at the same time improving the cockpit's habitability. In particular, the side-impact test verified that the battery packs with their modules and cells are well protected and remain in place even under severe stress. In addition, ergonomic studies refined the safety requirements, ensuring a compact yet spacious design. Although light commercial vehicles in the Alkè ATX category are not currently required to undergo crash tests, we worked within the context of this project to achieve the highest safety ratings using existing Euro NCAP protocols for similar / comparable categories. These tests were carried out by the Passive Safety team of Idiada, a top player in design, engineering, safety testing and automotive homologation worldwide.
Crash test and passive safety in urban electric vehicles
Alkè staff together with Idiada staff worked on the design of a new tubular structure through virtual simulation activities on passive safety. The construction of the new tubular structure to improve passive safety minimised deformable areas, while ensuring sufficient energy absorption in frontal impacts. This was achieved by adding technical solutions normally applied to larger automotive vehicles to the front area of the vehicle. From virtual simulation we then moved on to physical crash tests at the workshops of Applus+ IDIADA in order to comprehensively study safety and crashworthiness aspects, assessing the risk of injury to occupants in frontal and side collision scenarios. These tests are crucial for evaluating the performance of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in real accident conditions, providing essential information on structural integrity and occupant protection measures. The data collected from these tests has led to further refinements of the platform designed to raise safety standards and effectively mitigate the potential risks associated with collisions within urban environments.
- increased safety levels for frontal and side impacts
- compact yet spacious design
- from virtual simulation to physical crash tests
- high safety standards
Advanced safety systems for commercial electric vehicles
In its roadmap of future developments of its range of compact commercial electric vehicles, Alke has planned interventions oriented towards the study and integration of systems to increase the safety not only of passengers but also of pedestrians, such as the addition of new ADAS systems and external sensors with 360° coverage. These systems aim to anticipate possible accidents that may involve pedestrians in the vicinity of the vehicle. The current and future design of Alkè electric vehicles has at its heart the maximisation of safety seen in a synergetic and comprehensive way, putting all those involved in urban mobility and last-mile logistics at the centre.
