ARIA is the new, sustainable electric city car created by student team TU/ecomotive. Thanks to its smart design, the vehicle lasts longer and is easier and cheaper to maintain. Users can repair the car themselves and are no longer dependent on the manufacturer for minor fixes. With this concept, the students hope to inspire the automotive industry and challenge European policymakers.

The key lies in the construction: ARIA consists of separate components such as the battery, body panels, and electronic elements in the interior. If something breaks, the user only replaces the faulty part. With clear manuals, standardized components, a built-in toolbox and an app that reads out the car’s status, you can perform maintenance yourself.

Smart design

One striking aspect is the battery pack. Whereas regular EVs have one large, heavy battery, ARIA uses six smaller modules of about 12 kilos each. You can detach them by hand, it works almost as easily as replacing the batteries in your remote control. Together, the six batteries provide a total capacity of 12.96 kWh.

The exterior is cleverly designed as well. A scratch or dent? Click the panel off and replace it within a few minutes. Remove a panel and you instantly have access to the components behind it. The system was devised by a Summa student; after all, the team is made up of students from TU Eindhoven, Fontys and Summa, showing how collaboration between different educational institutes leads to smart, practical solutions.

Discarded more quickly

With this design, the students want to significantly improve repair options for electric vehicles. That is urgently needed: electric cars are becoming increasingly difficult to repair. Batteries are often integrated into the chassis, parts are not standardized and are hard to obtain for independent garages. There is also a shortage of technicians specialized in electric drivetrains and battery systems, which makes repairs take longer and become more expensive. The result: cars are discarded faster than necessary.

“That undermines the sustainable image of the EV,” says team manager Taco Olmer. With this new concept, TU/ecomotive responds to the European legislation passed last year that gives consumers the right to repair products more quickly, cheaply and easily.

European rules

Olmer continues:

“The new European rules are a step forward, but they mainly focus on household appliances and consumer electronics. EVs still fall through the cracks. With ARIA, we show what is possible and hope to encourage the EU to apply those rules to passenger cars as well. At the same time, we want to show the automotive industry that sustainable and practical design really is achievable. If we can build this within a year, there are opportunities for the industry.”

TU/ecomotive supports the Right to Repair Europe coalition, a network of more than 180 organizations from 30 countries, ranging from environmental groups to companies in the repair sector. This coalition has long been advocating for better regulations to ensure that components in electric vehicles, including batteries, remain repairable and replaceable. This includes fair access to spare parts and software updates. Olmer: “Right to Repair is about giving control back to the user. That’s exactly what we are doing as well.”