Research on Project Neodrive

Aerodynamic Shape Optimiser

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Status: in development

Given an STL describing the volume that must fit inside (people, cargo, wheels, mechanism), search for the enclosure shape that minimises drag area.

Why this tool

Chapter 5 makes the case that above 20–30 km/h aerodynamic drag already dominates rolling resistance, and that shape and frontal area matter more than powertrain efficiency for a vehicle in this class. Solver exist but are not easy to use. The goal is to provide a tool that will both compute the drag force on an existing vehicle and given everything that must fit inside, what is the lowest-drag skin that contains it?

Véli Routing Engine

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Status: in development

Navigation for vehicles that are neither bicycles nor cars: wider than a bike, slower uphill, faster downhill, and stopped by obstacles no existing router models.

Why this tool

Every routing engine assumes you are one of three things: a car, a pedestrian, or a bicycle. An intermediate vehicle is none of them. Thats how your GPS send you on a path with fense designed to make cyclist slow down and dismount their bicycle but your velomobile don’t have the maneuvrability necessary.

Modal Shift quantification

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Status: in development, expected for january 2027

Estimating how many car trips an intermediate vehicle could realistically absorb, and what that would mean in emissions, energy, and material terms.

Why this

The whole project rests on a quantitative claim: that a meaningful fraction of car trips could be served by a much smaller vehicle, and that the resulting reduction in externalities is large enough to justify the effort.

Chapter 1 states that claim. This tool is how we find out whether it survives contact with real mobility data instead of remaining an assertion.