3D Printed Electric Two Wheelers

Electrification is widely considered as a viable strategy for reducing the oil dependency and environmental impacts of road transportation. In pursuit of this strategy, most attention has been paid to electric cars. However, substantial, yet untapped, potentials could be realized in urban areas through the large-scale introduction of electric two-wheelers. The global electric scooter and motorcycle market size was $12,961.8 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $22,192.0 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6.9% during 2017-2025. Electric two-wheelers (ETW) can maneuver through congested streets; can be charged from traditional wall outlets and often have a removable battery, allowing them to be charged indoors. The demand for electric vehicles is increasing due to rapid transformations taking place in the energy efficient and green automotive industry, and its positive impact on several alarming environmental, parking, energy and traffic congestion issues observed in the recent past. Electric bikes, scooters, and motorcycles are emerging as the need of the hour, as commuters are in demand for solutions that provide innovative traveling experience with long distance coverage backup. In contrast to electric cars, charging electric two-wheelers is relatively easy and requires less infrastructure, and to date, a number of small projects have demonstrated that there is potential for electric two-wheelers (in China they are gaining rapid popularity). The main challenges associated with electric two wheelers are- 1)Technology: They under-perform in almost all parameters as compared to Internal Combustion engine Vehicles: power, speed, durability, range, weight, luxury etc. Technology improvement will be the driving the future of ETW. 2) Economics: Electric Two-wheelers are much more expensive than their conventional counter-parts. 3) Weight: The weight of the batteries and chassis makes the bike heavy; so, you may not be able to carry heavy pillion riders, and you will need to check the tire pressure regularly. 4) Battery life: The most important expense that the owner might bear is that of the batteries. The sealed, maintenance-free, lead-acid batteries have a limited life and have to be replaced if they get damaged or if they no longer offer a range that is sufficient for the user's needs. Batteries generally last for about 2-3 years. 5) Running range: The range of an ETW is the distance that the bike will run on a single charge. Current commercially ETW's have a low range. In city riding, it would be risky to expect a range of more than 40-50km( e-bikes and mopeds) 100-150Km( motorcycles), even with new batteries. The range of the bike decreases with the life of the batteries, and even with the best of care, could decrease substantially after a year or two so of use. It is not uncommon for the range of the batteries to decrease to 15-20 km towards the end of their life. Some ETWs have a greater range than others. This may be because they are less powerful and run more slowly, or it may be because they have greater battery back-up. The latter bikes are more expensive. 6) Running costs- Current ETWs can actually work out more expensive than PTWs given the higher maintenance cost and short life of the batteries. However, there are many other factors to be considered in the final reckoning. 7) Charging Time - The time required to fully charge the batteries. The shorter is the charging cycle the better.

The goal is to produce user-friendly, technically competitive, light-weight, customizable, low-maintenance, durable and extremely affordable city ETWs. The ETWs can be categorized into bikes, motorcycles and mopeds which will cater to the transportation requirements of a broader market. The key to achieving the above goals is to save cost and time in design, manufacturing, production, and assembly. This can be done by implementing 3D printing technologies in manufacturing ETW parts. The advancement of current 3D printing technologies has made it possible to produce end-use parts in different engineering-grade materials, including carbon fiber, nylon, PET-G and ABS. The various benefits of 3D printing parts are- 1) It will speed up the creative process, from the design to the manufacturing and testing stages. We will be capable to iterate faster and get refined designs in a very straight-forward workflow and also overcome design limitations caused by the previous manufacturing technologies used. Therefore empowering designers to create more complex parts with a fraction of the previous effort, time and money. so they can focus on higher added-value parts. 3D printing for internal or non-aesthetic parts will open doors to new solutions and design strategies, enriching the Design process and the final outcome, while reducing the time-to-market and overall labor costs. 2) Reduced Production time and speed in delivery 3) 3D printed parts will drastically reduce the weight of the bike, therefore enabling easy handling and improve battery range. 4) Low maintenance cost, as a non-functional part, can be easily replaced and a new part can be printed at fraction of the cost and time. 5) It has become obvious in today’s market that customization is what the final user expects in order to feel concerned about a product. 3D printing opens up new avenues for user customization as conventional manufacturing methods produce one-off and short-run parts which are expensive and time-consuming. The user will personally be able to hand pick components for his/her bike according to his needs and budget. In order to further reduce costs and time in the product development cycle, Design for assembly methodology (DFA) is to be implemented. It is a systematic analysis process which primarily intends to reduce the assembly time and cost of a product by simplifying the product design (Tatikonda, 1994). The primary objective of DFA is to minimize the part counts. This leads to fewer parts that must be manufactured and assembled, which will be reflected in assembly time reduction for the manufacturing process. Additionally, fewer parts and fewer interfaces also cause fewer failures, which has the potential to reduce the time taken in the testing and verification process of the product development. Another objective of DFA is to have remaining parts easily assembled together. Ease of assembly would contribute to the reduction in assembly time. The expected DFA results are reduced material cost, labor cost and reduced assembly cycle times. The total product development time is reduced greatly because it would be possible to reduce and eliminate multiple and time-consuming loops in the manufacturing and testing processes. Battery Technology- The most important feature in an electric vehicle is its battery technology. With the rapid advancement in this field, it is now possible to make smaller and lighter battery packs with a longer life cycle, running range and shorter charging times. For example, the Panasonic lithium-ion batteries being used in Tesla Cars.