The modular concept design development of national electric car: Case study at Institute of Technology Bandung

Abstract

The more diminishing the world fossil fuel leads to an idea to make national electric car, and nowadays it has become material of automotive discussion in our country. The designers and engineers of ITB returned to hold a discussion in designing national electric car. On one hand they studied high-performance electric engine and created a durable battery, and the designer ∼ notably product design — tried to find a resolution for the future electric vehicle according to Indonesian people's need. The design has become a means of fulfilling various kinds of expectations and life desires of urban people. The design approach will be more accepted when referencing to the people's perception and expectation. The objective is to increase the aspects of usability and likeability of the product manufactured. So, it can meet the user's tangible- and intangible quality expectation to be better than before. For that, it is necessarily studied how the expectation of electric car design as viewed from visual side orienting to the user as subject (inclusive) through the process of sense making they do. In order that it can be implemented in a design, it is needed a model of development of car design based on the user's need. In understanding the people's need, want and demand for car design today, it has been conducted a data gathering from car users by surveying through internet. The survey gathered 224 respondents in several regions in Indonesia. However, those having complete answer for each item of question and considered to be valid are about 180 questionnaires. The data collecting method has been done by convenience sampling, by putting a program of questionnaire filling automatically by respondents at saft7.com. site. The idea of developing the following car design is an effort of experimentation in the development of model concept beginning from an analysis of the people's preference to the car design generally and their need for family car specially. The design concept is an implementation of the effort of the development automotive product design as efficient as possible by using one initial basis to develop as many as possible design variants that can answer various people's needs, expectations and tastes. The design of four-wheel vehicle (car) by modular system design, car body with one basic module of body having an uniqueness in the modular system of car body's parts that can be removed-and-assembled such that making it to be able to change in the form and function according to what is wanted by the user.