An innovative concept on an electric platform under study at the Vehicle Engineering Department of the University of Modena

The goal of this internal research activity is the creation of a prototype of the Maserati brand electric city car and equipped with a new type of automated door.

Previously, thesis work had already been carried out focusing on the engineering of “AHD” (Active Hidden Door) systems for super sports cars where the goal was to increase their exclusivity, while still exploiting the intrinsic convenience of a door that does not require space outside. the shape of the vehicle, to allow access to the car.

This time, the automated system of the door becomes the fulcrum of a new concept of car, which goes beyond what is the current raison d’etre of an electric car, namely the mere “zero emissions”: quotation marks necessary because although the greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants in operation are almost nil from a global point of view, therefore considering the production of the vehicle and the electricity itself, the matter is less linear and obvious.

According to an internal investigation by Mercedes-Benz approved by TUV Sud (a company specializing in test certification) analyzing the emissions of an EQC during its life cycle estimated at 200,000km, it has emerged that the electric car can cut even 70 % the environmental impact compared to a car with ICE as long as they take a long series of countermeasures, including electricity produced largely from renewable sources and extensive use of recycled materials, also trying to limit the use of the Rare lands. In short, the actual ecological advantage is not entirely attributable to the electric car itself but to the way it is produced, both it and the energy it uses.

We therefore tried to make sense of the electric car that goes beyond the purely environmental one: unlike a traditional car, the footprint of the mechanics is minimal and this allows to increase the habitability. However, no manufacturer has so far taken full advantage of the opportunity allowed by the layout of an electric power plant: even when it came to models completely devoid of a traditional engine, the architecture has remained the same.

Our EV proposal puts the car in total discussion as we conceived it during the 1900s in order to file another problem related to the world of transport: traffic, disfiguring of any urban center as such regardless of the its environmental impact.

This new car is dedicated to Maserati, as the technical choices adopted are certainly not trivial but entirely exclusive. But in particular, it mainly has the ambitious task of maximizing habitability and practicality in place of the compact external dimensions, especially the length: share directly linked to the use of the public road. In continuity with the Trident range, it must certainly be exclusive, but this feature will not only be synonymous with style, finishes and equipment: for the first time in the world, thanks to the enormous potential offered by the EV platform, a city car will have a habitability worthy of the best flagships around.

On the contrary, the cheaper models will also be like this. Passive safety will be closer to the world of sedans than to small cars, as efforts have been made to maximize the areas of programmed deformation, the great weak point of the ultra-compact. The latter have a living cell, as rigid as possible as suggested by the state of the art of the chassis, sometimes almost coinciding with the actual size of the vehicle: in the event of a violent collision, the control of the deceleration of the occupants is delegated substantially to the restraint systems (seat belt, airbag, collapsible steering column), which does not make them as safe as a larger car in extra-urban contexts.

But we will certainly not fail to provide you with more details in the future: the project presents countless innovative solutions and certainly not trivial or obvious, but we will reveal everything (including the images of the virtual model), directly from the testimony of the designers (Prof., tutors and trainee student) in the coming weeks and by the end of the year, on this same site. Keep following us!