cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/24122615
A team of students from the Eindhoven University of Technology has built a prototype electric car with a built-in toolbox and components that can be easily repaired or replaced without specialist knowledge.
The university’s TU/ecomotive group, which focuses on developing concepts for future sustainable vehicles, describes its ARIA concept as “a modular electric city car that you can repair yourself”.
ARIA, which stands for Anyone Repairs It Anywhere, is constructed using standardised components including a battery, body panels and internal electronic elements that can be easily removed and replaced if a fault occurs.
With assistance from an instruction manual and a diagnostics app that provides detailed information about the car’s status, users should be able to carry out their own maintenance using only the tools in the car’s built-in toolbox, the TU/ecomotive team claimed.
Still, most of these modifications aren’t legal on public roads in Europe unless you use certified parts and get the modifications approved. At least in Germany rules are really strict. If you replace your exhaust, rims, add a spoiler, change dampers or even use the wrong light bulbs, your vehicle’s road license may be invalid and you might lose your insurance in case of an accident.
Thanks for that perspective. We don’t have those kind sof rules in America. We have a very mature car culture here, with a very long tradition of modding.
It’s nearly as important to some demographics as gun ownership. The government could never get away with totally restricting people from working on their cars.