Lightweight components for light electric vehicles based on textile exterior

Most important requirements for light electric vehicles are a small size and low weight. Regarding the market implementation, the urban environment provides the highest usage potential for this vehicle class. With respect to weight saving measures, textiles as exterior material of light electric vehicles offer a promising approach. This paper clarifies the definition of requirements and explains the identification of appropriate textiles through a market analysis as well as how to evaluate them. The construction of a demonstrator allowed several tests under real conditions and additionally served the identification of suitable textiles for the use in vehicle exterior.