Freeduck — An electric food truck designed together with Ducati Energia

This project was developed within a master course at Politecnico di Milano in mixed teams of 4 Product Designers and 1 — me- Mechanical Engineer.

Our briefing was to adapt an existing small electric vehicle into a food-truck, where the result was a production ready project encompassing design, manufacturing, safety and cost limits.

Concept

While developing our concept we aimed for a simple design language that would look both sophisticated but friendly at the same time.

Theres a minimal design language that represents efficiency but together with round elements to make it friendly.

We wanted to maximize the interior space behind the driver seat to allow for the food vendor to work comfortably and efficiently. Keeping things light was also a major concern since the cargo to operate a food-truck business — such as ovens, toasters, refrigerators — would add a significant amount of weight.

Simplicity was a must, the first priority was to make something functional.

Final Proposal

The end result is close to the initial concept, as all the solutions for openings, hinges, lights, interior trim components was either something that already existed or cheap to produce. The darkened glass with the headlights popping out of it was an intended contrast, and the way it finishes on the bottom of the bumper merging with the white body part hints to a smile.

Main Components Design

Frame

We chose a tubular space frame due to it’s affordability and it was enough. We chose however to use an aluminion alloy (6082 T6) that even though we had to use thicker tubes, it was lighter in the end.

We validated our design using FEM analysis. We tested a static condition initially and dynamic situations with lateral load transfer (turning) and longitudinal load transfer (braking/accelerating).

Rear Box

To design a big hollow component we decided to use rotational molding that would allow us to obtain the final shape in one step. From that point on we would remove material to make the roof door and wheel arches. The chosen material was PP due to its fair mechanical resistance and its UV resistance.

Bumber

Made out of PETG mainly due to its mirrored finish to resemble the windshield above.

Suspension

Use of McPherson struts at the front and semi trailing axle at the rear. The McPherson strut was the best solution for our Packaging Requirements and at the rear we needed something that allowed for some pitch movement. The semi trailing axle is not the cheapest solution but because it’s an independent solution it allows for a better ride.

Windshield

A rounded shaped windshield was chosen to make for a smoother transition in terms of shape. According to road regulation a layer of PVB was added to the glass to keep it from breaking into shards in case of an accident.

Target

The target user would be either a private owner or a company. The vehicle is easily adaptable to a multitude of uses within the food truck scope. The rear part of the car has plenty of room for the necessary equipment depending on the desired application.

Renders