Ethical issues in engineering design - 3TU.Centre for Ethics and ...

DutchEVO, safe or sustainable?
had a certain freedom to change requirements as the project proceeded. If the
car was designed to be used on European roads in the near future the constraints
on the design would become more stringent. Such constraints include pricing,
existing legislation, image, marketing and brand portfolio arguments, all of
which play a large part in commercial car design. In the DutchEVO case, these
arguments did not have a role.
I started following the DutchEVO project in May 2000, one year after the start
up. I therefore had to rely on existing documents and interviews to obtain
information about the start of the project.
Design requirements
In what follows, the design requirements, as formulated in the design document
‘DutchEVO the development of an ultralight sustainable conceptcar’, are quoted
[Knoppert and Porcelijn, 1999]. This design document was written after the
design work had started. The initial aims of the project were:
-‘To design a sustainable compact family car for use in and around
Western European cities after the year 2009,
-to show that it is possible to create a sustainable and affordable car for
mass production,
- to design a means of transportation unrestricted by existing design,
image, structure and production philosophies,
- to create an integrated design and giving priority to weight, safety,
cost, volume and comfort in this order. {Knoppert en Porcelijn, 1999]’
A list of design requirements for the DutchEVO is given in table 4.1 below.
Table 4.1: requirements of the DutchEVO [Knoppert and Porcelijn, 1999]
Occupants 4 plus luggage
Product lifespan 200.000 km or 15 years
Engine Front 20 kW Otto 4-stroke
turbo engine 1
Front suspension MacPherson
Rear suspension trailing arm suspension
Doors 3
Legislation and standards European
Mass 400 kg
Full payload 352 kg
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1
Later on in the design process it was decided that this engine should be combined with a light
hybrid system that recovers braking energy.
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