With last-mile delivery booming, translating the specific demands placed on the transport types involved into purpose-built designs is key to delivering success. Stephen Holmes speaks to ELM Mobility about the creation of its compact and capable EVOLV vehicle
Online shopping promises the consumer convenience and simplicity: a click, a wait and then a knock at the door. But much like a graceful swan gliding across a pond, the logistics involved with achieving this seamless experience are the furiously paddling feet below the water’s surface. From flexible warehousing and pick-and-pack robotics to logistical software and a complex mix of delivery stages and vehicle types, technology is involved at every touchpoint on a package’s journey to your home.
Yet for the consumer awaiting their parcel, the only element that really matters – and that provides any visible experience – is the successful last-mile drop-off at the end of the supply chain.
From beat-up old vans to cycle couriers, cities are home to a multitude of options for these final steps, although most transport types have a ‘sweet spot’ when it comes to the kinds of loads they can carry. Many are frankly unsuitable for general use.
To solve this problem, ELM Mobility was formed as a collaboration that brings together the styling and userdriven insights design approach of Astheimer Design, and the automotive and electrical engineering expertise of Prodrive. The first vehicle produced by this partnership, the EVOLV, is a last-mile, L7e quadricycle-class electric vehicle built to be compact, capable and safe.
A clever dual bay allows class-leading storage of 60% of overall vehicle volume, with the EVOLV main cargo bay able to handle a 1.6m tall, 300kg Euro pallet payload, and a secondary area able to accommodate a 1.2m tall Euro pallet and 200kg payload.
Despite the considerable consignment in the back, the EVOLV is capable of quick manoeuvring in congested streets, with a turning circle comparable to that of the famed London black cab.
At its heart is a 20kWh battery with the potential to meet the demands of daily deliveries, offering an ample 100-mile range and capable of a top speed of 50mph.
The unique set-up means EVOLV offers approximately twice the load box volume of other L7e vehicles, and is half the weight of a compact van with a similar load volume, making it the most efficient vehicle in this class, both in terms of cost and energy consumption per unit volume of goods per mile.
Loading up
Founded in 2009 by Carsten Astheimer with Russell Gillott, Astheimer Design is a studio based in Warwick, UK, which despite a wide range of clients, has gained a reputation as a specialist in sustainable mobility.
Having worked on several commercial electric vehicle (EV) projects large and small, including the 16-tonne Volta Zero, the world’s first purpose-built, all-electric commercial vehicle designed for city-centre deliveries. At the other end of the scale is the Deliver-E demonstrator, which was created to help showcase Warwick Manufacturing Group’s battery technology capabilities, and sees a Renault Twizzy converted into a capable goods vehicle.
“That was a six-week project and it was completely nuts,” Carsten Astheimer says of Deliver-E. It was also the studio’s first foray into last-mile logistics. The success of the project led to companies as far afield as Singapore contacting him, hoping to buy small fleets of the vehicle. He describes this as the ‘first bell’ to ring, with the second bell chiming during work on the Volta Zero and the industry feedback.
Speaking with logistics company heads at the launch of the Zero, the positive feedback came with the caveat that the companies in this industry need more than a single truck. They require a full ecosystem of vehicles to handle different types of delivery in the optimum way possible.
Having seen funding become available from UK Research & Innovation for a feasibility study, the Astheimer team quickly put together a brief, which having proved successful sparked the initial concepts for EVOLV.
A positive market response to the concepts saw Astheimer approach Prodrive, a company that had already assisted in the feasibility study, about collaborating – and that led to the creation of a new entity, ELM Mobility.
From here, the project took shape over 12 months, quickly moving from a blank sheet to a functional prototype.
Pallet loads
Astheimer describes the EVOLV as three very distinct volumes. There’s the cabin volume, which wraps around the driver. Then there’s the front bumper volume, which houses the impact zone and the front wheels, adding protective stability. Finally, there’s the big box in the back, which is the purpose of the vehicle.
For Astheimer, capacity for 150 packages – roughly the maximum number of deliveries that a driver would complete in a day – was the magic number. He goes on to explain how the initial concepting stages were as much a volume packaging exercise as a clean-sheet automotive exercise.
“We knew we wanted to stay in the L7e [powered light vehicle] category, and there are dimensional limitations – 1.5m width and 3.5m length. We knew we didn’t want to go over 2.1m in height. And so, within that package, we wanted to maximize the load volume to allow for 150 parcels,” he says. “And the other thing that we wanted was to be able to get a full-height Euro pallet in.”
This last factor would make the EVOLV more attractive to urban logistics companies. These dimensions would allow them to transfer bulk parcel loads or single large products while easily competing with traditional vans that weigh double the weight. By requiring half the energy to make each delivery, the EVOLV is considerably more environmentally friendly and cost efficient, but there were other practicalities to consider.
EVOLV needed to be compact, so as to be easier to park than a compact van or a 4.25-ton van. Astheimer explains that, in downtown areas, cargo bikes will always be the most efficient form of transport, because of infrastructure elements like cycle lanes and their ability to park on pavements. However, they’re simply not suitable for all goods.
“It’s the inner-city area where we’re really the most efficient, and as you go into the outer town part, we’re also very applicable, but that’s where the bigger van then becomes slightly more efficient. So I think we’re able to really define where our efficiencies come,” states Astheimer.
The initial design phase involved increasing the load volume by as much as possible, while shrinking the driver cabin – but not by too much. The team found through its research that driver experience is fundamental to the success of a logistics vehicle. If drivers aren’t happy with the vehicle, then their employers won’t buy them, says Astheimer. So driver comforts that make their lives as easy as possible – driving position, ease of entry and egress and so on – are critical.
That last point is fundamental for users who will climb in and out of a vehicle over 100-times a day. “Our seat height is quite high and the H-point (hip point) of our seat is about the same height as when you’re stood next to it. So, it’s more of a slide-in translation horizontally. You’re not dropping down into the seat or climbing up into it, and that is quite intentional,” explains Astheimer.
Access on either side of the vehicle and extended all-round visibility also help with safety when it comes to getting in and out in busy urban environments. The design team also focused on helping drivers maintain focus on their work, by making the operation of the vehicle and the navigation to their next delivery extremely simple. Here, they created user interfaces influenced by video gaming, such as the layout of the dash and steering wheel, with scrolling menus and intuitive physical buttons.
End-to-end
When asked about the technology used in the design of the EVOLV, Astheimer responds: “More and more we’re using something through the whole process to a much later phase in the development of the design. It’s only when we really get down to splitting the model into panel parts and having to create offsets for panel thicknesses and A and B surfacing that we go into NURBs modelling.”
This can take the form of sub-D or T-splines in Blender or Geomagic Freeform. Blender is increasingly ELM’s software of choice in the early stages, as it covers the whole process, explains Astheimer, adding that the team are allowed to work in whichever software they find most familiar and comfortable.
“Then we’ll move into Rhino or Alias as we go into the final surfacing – but we only go there when we’re really, really sold on exactly what the design is. Otherwise, it just takes too long.” This same flexibility applies to creating renders necessary to building out the design. “Some of our designers will use KeyShot, others will use Blender, because they’re working in Blender. We use VRED for virtual reality, and we’re using Unreal now as well. Chaos V-Ray seems to give really nice soft interiors. I lose track of the amount of software that we’re using!”
From initial designs, Astheimer explains that the project moved quickly into a rudimentary mock-up to test ergonomics, analyse proportions and better understand the volumes and architecture of the proposed vehicle.
Once design intent had been established, a more precise ergo buck with moveable components was built to help define seating, control and pedal positions.
From this model, ergonomics could be tested on a wide range of people. GoPro cameras were fitted into the buck to capture people getting in and out of the vehicle, while an AI motion-tracking software captured their movements, helping to finetune cabin boundaries and shave off precious millimetres of space.
All of this work took place over the first three months: defining the concept for driver and cargo volumes, and the placement of key infrastructure like the motor and the batteries.
Astheimer explains that it was by the end of month three that the team had the basic concept down, before having pivot to building a working prototype. Deciding on the familiar drive train from a readily available Renault Twizzy, the process involved working hand-in-hand with Prodrive to align it in an architecture, commission the parts and get it ready to assemble in time for launch.
Robustness and reliability are as fundamental to logistics companies as they are to motorsport teams, where Prodrive has a strong foothold. Based in Banbury, UK, the company develops engineering solutions from a blank sheet through to low-volume production for businesses across the transport sectors. Previously, it helped Ford create its first plug-in hybrid electric Transit van and bring Volta Trucks’ vision of a fully electric midsize truck to life by exploiting the electric powertrain.
The EVOLV was split into two halves, with Astheimer Design focusing on the top half, with its body, cabin and user touchpoints, and Prodrive on the lower half, with its skateboard chassis, drive and electrical systems.
“We had to work extremely closely together to get everything in the right place, both when we were working virtually and when we were starting to build a prototype,” says Astheimer.
Relying on Microsoft Teams, Prodrive’s in-house project management tools and in-person meetings, collaboration on such a fast-paced project demanded a clear definition of responsibilities and good communication at every stage.
On its way
With the vehicle developed, the project then moved into further testing and verifying of the prototype, while working towards manufacture and developing the business model.
The next stage will be to simulate the details and efficiencies of the EVOLV, using what Asteimer calls a ‘digital twin of the urban environment’. This means a deep-dive into the detail of practical elements.
How long does it take to park the EVOLV? What is its manoeuvrability like? How long does it take to get out and unload a delivery? How should a driver organise the trolleys and pallet loaders?
Key to understanding these demands – and knowing how to slot them into existing architectures and set-ups – has been one of the biggest learning curves. As part of this, Astheimer is keen to acknowledge London-based Mango Logistics. Operating an entirely electric fleet, as well as managing warehousing solutions, Mango’s CEO Daniel Levan-Harris has given ELM invaluable insights into the nuances of last-mile delivery from the start of the project and has since joined the ELM advisory board.
Astheimer says he has learnt a lot along the way. “I’ve done a day on a cargo bike. I’ve been in their vans. I’ve delivered pizzas for my brother-in-law! And, in previous projects, we sent designers out with DPD, so we’ve now got quite a bit of knowledge and data from this world,” he says. “We’ve become quite specialised in delivery, and in last-mile delivery in particular.”
Next comes tackling all the other aspects of the business: manufacturing, sales, distribution and maintenance. With further investment and discussions with manufacturing partners underway, the goal is for EVOLV to reach production in 2028, with prices starting at around £25,000 per vehicle.
“As an ideas company – and as an ideas person – coming up with ideas and creating new ideas is almost the easy part. The difficult part is designing that for cost and getting traction in a market, especially a market that’s very competitive and subject to huge pressures in cost and complexity, like last-mile delivery,” he explains. “It’s essential that our vehicle is a solution that saves money and doesn’t cost the earth.”
With some market analysts projecting the value of the UK last-mile delivery industry to be worth over £7 billion by 2030, and some £200 billion globally, a design that can glide through the urban landscape with the least environmental impact and greatest efficiencies looks destined to be one that will deliver the goods.
This article first appeared in DEVELOP3D Magazine
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