Dutch Students Revolutionize EV Ownership with DIY Repair Car

A group of university students in the Netherlands have developed a modular electric vehicle designed to let drivers diagnose faults and carry out repairs themselves. The concept car, called Aria, was created by students at TU/e Eindhoven University and aims to reduce reliance on specialised, and often expensive, repair services, particularly for electric vehicles (EVs). Owners of the car can connect their phone directly to the vehicle via a USB-C cable to run a diagnostic app that quickly identifies faults. The app then uses a 3D model of the vehicle to visually guide users to the broken component. “With the diagnostics app that we made for our car, you can simply plug in the car into your phone using a USB-C cable and it will very quickly identify that it is connected," said Marc Max Hoevenaars, a student at TU/e Eindhoven University and software engineer on the Aria project. "From this we know how to fix it, all the tools we need, and we will quickly be able to get it going and have our car working again." The students behind Aria say the project is a response to the increasing complexity of modern electric vehicles, which often require specialist knowledge to repair. “Of course, every car can be repaired, but what we see is that there's a real necessity for specialised knowledge, especially with electric vehicles nowadays. So, what we really try to do is that we give the consumer the power to repair their own car,” said Taco Olmar, team manager of the Aria project. Battery accessibility is another major focus of the design. Unlike most electric vehicles, where battery packs are fully integrated into the chassis, Aria uses a modular battery system that can be easily removed by hand. "It's very easy to do by yourself, with your hand. Yeah, anyone can do this,” saidCallum Armour, technical engineer on the project. The same modular approach applies to the drivetrain, which the team says is designed for simplicity and ease of access. Exterior components like the bumpers and fenders are also designed to be replaced quickly.