Low-speed electric vehicle for urban use

/ SOFT MOBILITY / DENSE URBAN / ELECTRIC VEHICLES /

Pilot project of a 100% electric low-speed vehicle in Quebec adapted to the needs of the Sustainable Mobility Agency.

A PROJECT BY

As part of the call for demonstration and technology showcase projects in land transport and sustainable mobility by the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), the Sustainable Mobility Agency is testing a low-speed electric vehicle used for urban surveillance activities. This project is in partnership with Calogy Solutions, a company specialized in innovative thermal management and storage solutions for batteries, and Kargo, a manufacturing company that makes low-speed electric vehicles (LSVs).

Project objectives

• Promote the development of a 100% electric LSV adapted to Quebec’s urban climatic and road realities;
• Evaluate whether the electric LSV could be a viable solution to help diversify a vehicle fleet;
• Adapt the cabin to meet municipal needs, including those of a surveillance and parking enforcement vehicle;
• Ensure the designed space is safe, ergonomic, and meets the safety requirements of the SAAQ’s LSV regulations (rearview camera, proximity horn to warn visually impaired people, etc.);
• Have a 100% Quebec solution by involving the supply chain;
• Reduce the environmental footprint of the surveillance, parking enforcement and mobility fleet.

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Pre-project methodology

The Sustainable Mobility Agency’s mission is to innovate for more sustainable mobility and to ensure fair sharing of space and city accessibility for everyone. To do this, within its Innovation Showcase, the Agency, as a para-municipal partner, makes spaces on and off street, equipment, and its expertise available for experimental projects. This is the context in which a nearly two-year pilot project bringing together Calogy Solutions and Kargo was set up to adapt and test a 100% electric LSV for surveillance activities.

Initially, the project stages were:

Phase 1 – Ergonomics and comfort testing (March to July 2022): testing the Kargo vehicle without modification

• Phase 2 – Development of battery modules, internal tests and manufacturing (March to August 2022) and integration into the vehicle for first real-world testing (September to December 2022)
• Phase 3 – Winter real-world testing (January to February 2023) and summer real-world testing (June to July 2023)
• Due to constraints encountered during the project, notably in procurement, the project phases had to be adapted and tests were carried out on a closed circuit by the technology developers, Kargo and Calogy, rather than in real-world conditions by the operator, the Agency. These preliminary tests were spread over three phases:

Phase 1 – Test of the Kargo vehicle without modification on a closed circuit

• Phase 2 – Test of the Kargo vehicle with integration of Calogy’s battery on a closed circuit
• Phase 3 – Test of the Kargo vehicle with adapted cabin and Calogy’s battery on a closed circuit
• Major project milestones

1. Vehicle selection

An LSV proves to be the ideal vehicle format for the urban environment: its small size reduces nuisances related to short-term parking and, being 100% electric, it emits no GHGs.

2.

Choice of battery module Electric mobility presents various crucial issues, among which battery thermal management is of paramount importance to ensure their safety, durability and efficiency.

Because of its expertise in thermal management and lithium-ion batteries, Calogy Solutions chose to develop a battery module integrating an innovative thermal management solution. This approach allows optimal performance in terms of discharge, charge, and operating range, particularly suited to Quebec’s weather conditions.

The project battery consists of a total of 6 modules for a total capacity of 12 kWh. The targeted range is approximately 65 km in total. Depending on the different applications of the Kargo vehicle, it is possible to add or remove modules to reach the required range and reduce costs if needed.

3.

Design, engineering, simulation, prototypes In order to determine precisely the number of modules needed to reach the desired vehicle range, it was imperative to fully understand the vehicle’s usage cycle in its final environment. With this in mind, road tests were carried out in Montreal (phase 1), in collaboration with a parking officer to collect essential data to define the usage cycle:

Speed;

• Route;
• Accelerations;
• Altitude variations.
• The parking officer’s feedback following phase 1 highlighted that the initial cabin configuration was not adapted to his surveillance needs, and a general lack of ergonomics:

Limited field of vision;

• Seatbelt accessibility;
• Brake and accelerator pedals and mirror poorly positioned;
• Feeling of insecurity;
• Vehicle instability on urban terrain;
• Poorly accepted by the user;
• Not suitable for all-day use.
• From these data and the vehicle specifications, simulations were conducted to estimate the vehicle’s consumption during normal use. To reach the targeted range of about 65 km, the simulation determined that a battery with a capacity of about 12 kWh, i.e. 6 modules, was necessary.

Additional design criteria for the battery were defined as:

Recyclability;

• Ability to be reconditioned;
• Modularity.
• To arrive at the battery prototype for this project, Calogy conducted charge and discharge cycle tests with different usage profiles in an environmental chamber. Several iterations of programming were carried out to correct detected errors.

Moreover, given safety concerns related to battery thermal aspects, it was also important to have a quality BMS adapted to this project. It not only controls the battery’s charging and discharging, but also ensures that the cell temperature remains within a safe operating range.

For Kargo, the results obtained following phase 1 in the field required major changes mainly to the cabin and the manufacturing method. All modifications were validated using numerical simulations to design the cabin sought by the Agency.

4. Installation and configuration

Calogy and Kargo collaborated to ensure a successful electrical integration of the battery into the vehicle, at Calogy’s facilities in Sherbrooke.

Communication between the battery and the vehicle is important in order to use the vehicle key to activate the battery, display the battery charge, display errors, etc.

The battery was then mechanically integrated into the first version of the Kargo vehicle to carry out field tests (phase 2). The objective was to discover as many problems as possible as early as possible in the project. The vehicle traveled nearly 600 km at Calogy, highlighting various programming and communication issues with the vehicle, which could be corrected before integration into the final vehicle (phase 3).

5. Technology assessment

An analysis will be carried out at the end of the project to evaluate:

Vehicle safety;

• Ergonomics;
• Adaptability to operations;
• Vehicle range;
• User satisfaction.
• Tests are still ongoing on a closed circuit at Calogy; final real-world results will be added to this sheet once the experiment is completed.

Funding

A budget of $700,000 was granted through the envelope for demonstration and technology showcase projects in land transport and sustainable mobility from the Quebec Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE).

Results obtained following phases 1, 2 and 3

Closed-circuit tests

Validation of module integrity;

• The battery reaches the set range of 65 km, and its maximum road-tested range is about 73 km;
• Adapting Calogy’s battery allowed optimization of its capacity from 2 kWh to 12 kWh and 16 kWh;
• New manufacturing and assembly methods were developed and produced by Kargo;
• Adaptation of cabin ergonomics;
• Optimization: the vehicle’s closed-circuit testing period made it possible to identify and correct weaknesses in the battery management software, enabling the development of a battery management system in Canada;
• Adapted and improved BMS which allowed:
• Optimization of performance for the intended application;
  • Optimization of long-term costs if we produce at large volume;
  • Remaining flexible in case of change;
  • Controlling quality to reduce failures and improve reliability;
  • Developing in-house expertise.
  • Optimization and validation of technologies
  • Lessons learned

Success factors

Having a spirit of collaboration among stakeholders;

• Having a stakeholder who takes a leading role to provide strong leadership in the project, while ensuring excellent communication and transparency among all;
• Flexibility, openness, and the ability of stakeholders to adapt to respond to encountered challenges (time, procurement, testing);
• Conducting tests with the first version of the vehicle in order to accurately target the vehicle’s required energy profile;
  • Anticipating parts procurement needs through good communication with suppliers and by storing more materials internally;
  • For Calogy, geographic proximity and a close relationship with suppliers offer the necessary flexibility to quickly make design adjustments and anticipate production needs;
  • Conducting numerous tests on Calogy’s batteries before installation in the vehicle to validate the technology upstream;
  • Conducting road tests directly at Calogy to reveal potential issues before sending the vehicle to be tested with agents;
  • A stakeholder’s experience in grant management;
• Government financial assistance in the purchase of LSVs ($12,500 per vehicle).
• Challenges and potential solutions

Challenges encountered during the project, and potential solutions developed following the test phases and stakeholder collaboration (some solutions are being completed for a later test phase).

At the general technology level:

Development of a new production process for manufacturing new parts adapted to the requested objectives;

• Optimization of interior space within the vehicle.
• At the climatic conditions level:

It is very important to test the vehicle in different climates given the energy consumption of accessories. The vehicle’s range will be greatly affected if the air conditioning or heating run constantly.

At the infrastructure level:

Fast charging represents a major challenge in this project due to infrastructure constraints:

Access to charging stations is limited;

• Limitations of some stations in terms of current capacity;
• It takes about 6 hours for a full charge with some stations, whereas the battery can be charged in only 1 hour.
• These issues should be easily correctable in the future.

Technology integration:

Combining Calogy’s technologies with Kargo’s to create this mobility solution was a major challenge that required many periods of simulation, testing and development. All of this aimed to design a vehicle that could be field-tested while being adapted to Quebec’s climatic conditions.

Procurement:

Delays caused by the large number of suppliers required to obtain the components necessary for vehicle manufacturing. Although the procurement of several battery parts is done in Quebec, some, such as the cells, must be purchased from foreign suppliers. Maintaining regular communication with suppliers will help anticipate parts supply issues.

Certifications with the SAAQ:

In order to implement a road pilot project, stakeholders must comply with modalities

established by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ):Traffic rules to follow;Mandatory equipment;

• The respective obligations of manufacturers and users.
• Next steps of the experimental project
• Following the vehicle’s closed-circuit testing phases, the next steps will allow completion of the experimental project.

Test the vehicle in winter and summer conditions

Test heating and air conditioning systems

• Field-test the vehicles in real conditions with targeted users, regarding ergonomics and road safety
• Next steps for stakeholders
• Beyond the direct results from an experimental project, stakeholders can enhance these outcomes through the many learnings acquired, and develop additional opportunities.

On the commercial level:

Developing a vehicle adapted to Quebec’s urban and climatic conditions is unique in the world, and its adoption in industry will increase its commercial potential;

Through its involvement in the project, Calogy invested in equipment capable of supporting large-scale production. The goal is to implement more automation in 2024 to increase production capacity to meet current and future customer needs.

• Project partners
• Operator

Sustainable Mobility Agency

Other actors associated with the initiative

• Calogy Solutions

Kargo Electric Vehicles

• Resources
• Learn more about the project:

Pilot project | Low-speed electric vehicle

Pilot project on low-speed vehicles | MEIE & SAAQ

• Project contact person
• Sustainable Mobility Agency (AMD)

The Sustainable Mobility Agency is testing a low-speed electric vehicle, which was developed by Calogy Solutions and Kargo.

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