A collaboration between Prodrive Advanced Technology and design company Astheimer, EVOLV is a ‘last mile quadricycle-class electric vehicle’, or the kind of cargo carrier best suited for getting goods and services into city centres without causing excess congestion or pollution. This sector has seen a massive uptick in the past decade, as online shopping and other delivery services crowd in to bring stuff direct to your front door.
Minimising the environmental impact of all these delivery vehicles is a number one priority, and Carsten Astheimer of Astheimer Design teamed up with engineering specialists Prodrive to create a vehicle that conformed to a certain category (an L7e quadricycle, which must weigh under 600kg excluding batteries and can also be driven with a standard car licence) yet didn’t skimp on function and capacity.
As a result of this careful packaging, the little EVOLV is just 3.2m long and 1.4m wide. Most impressively of all, it comes with two different load areas that add up to an impressive 4 cubic metres of cargo space, or 60% of the overall vehicle volume (a class-leading stat). All this was achieved through compressing the cabin (without compromising safety) and expanding the vehicle’s wheelbase to create a compact yet tall (2.15m) footprint that’ll accommodate a 1.6m Euro Pallet weighing up to 300kg.
Throw in another 200kg of cargo capacity in the secondary load area at the rear, and you have a truly flexible machine that could do everything from Amazon Prime to a compact coffee shop. The designers have also ensured that safety standards exceed the category requirements, making the EVOLV not just more spacious but also safer than anything else in its class.
According to the design team, the EVOLV ‘has approximately double the load box volume of other L7e vehicles and is half the weight of a compact van with a similar load volume, making it the most efficient vehicle in this class.’ ‘Everything about the design of EVOLV is fit-for-purpose,’ says Carsten Astheimer. ‘It’s lightweight, robust and simple, which fits harmoniously with the Astheimer Design philosophy of removing everything superfluous. The result is iconic in its simplicity, with the platform adaptable to the individual needs of each customer.’
Inside the cabin there’s a central driving seat for easy access on both sides of the vehicle, while a wraparound windscreen offers an excellent view of the surroundings. Having a single configuration makes the platform easier to manufacture for different markets, while the cargo area can be completely reconfigured depending on customer need. Like a London Taxi, the EVOLV also has a tiny turning circle.
Prodrive and Astheimer studied the use cycles of existing last mile EVs and concluded that a 100-mile range and a top speed of around 50mph would be more than adequate for almost all use cases. To achieve this, the vehicle is fitted with a modest 20kWh battery (taking the total unloaded weight up to 850kg).
Ultimately, the EVOLV concept will result in a vehicle manufactured by a new joint venture, ELM Mobility, established by Prodrive Advanced Technology and Astheimer. The hope is to bring it to market by 2028 with an expected price of around £25,000. ‘[The new company] was created with the intention to deliver game-changing efficiency for our customers with small, lightweight electric vehicles,’ says Astheimer. ‘ELM Mobility has been created to take the concept to market, and to become an iconic UK brand.’
ELM Mobility, ELMmobility.com
Astheimer Design, AstheimerLtd.com, @AstheimerDesign
Prodrive Advanced Technology, Prodrive.com, @ProdriveOfficial
