A 3,5-year EU project, GIANTS (Green Intelligent Affordable New Transport Solutions), aims to develop technology solutions that will enable the production of affordable LEVs or light electric vehicles (categorized L5, L6, and L7) for urban transport worldwide. Two major car manufacturers are also involved.

How can the millions of tuk-tuks in the world’s cities be replaced by clean electric vehicles? “To enable the change, the production of new vehicles must be local, technically simple, and cost-effective,” says the Finnish project partner Valoe. 

GIANTS thus wants to simplify the production of light electric vehicles. According to Valoe, the project will develop standard blocks from which the electric vehicles can be assembled with little expertise. The standard blocks are to be scalable so that different variations are possible. Valoe also uses the term ‘Lego blocks’ to describe the standard blocks more vividly.

Solar power

The standard parts include a portable battery, a scalable e-powertrain, a standardized vehicle control system, and integrated solar panels,” Valoe writes in its press release. The company is in charge of making sure that it will be possible for an L-class vehicle to use solar power. And that it will be easy to connect solar panels to standardized cars.

Solar energy can offer a high potential for light vehicles in areas with high annual solar radiation. In the developing regions, the electricity grid is often poor, with no charging infrastructure. Introducing solar energy for vehicles will significantly reduce traffic emissions and operating and investment costs.

The GIANTS project notes that with Valoe’s technology, it is possible to make a vehicle that works mostly independently of the electricity grid. Valoe’s task is to develop the efficiency, duration, cost competitiveness, and technological standard of the integrated panel system so that solar electricity can be used in L-class vehicles.

The compatibility development should make it possible to connect solar panels to standardized vehicles with simple tools. The project partners, Clean Motion, Squad Mobility, and TUX Mobility, will test drive the PV module concept in Sweden, Belgium, and India. 

24 partners

The EU project has a budget of 15 million euros. According to Valoe, 12 million of this is a grant, of which Valoe and Valoe Cells, in turn, have 0,45 million euros at their disposal.

The project will also provide a tool allowing third parties to design their own vehicles. The technology developed by the GIANTS project could be used in 1,5 million vehicles sold annually from 2028 onward.

A total of 24 partners are involved in the project, which is scheduled to run for three and a half years. Valoe recently joined the project. Other project partners include Renault, Toyota Motor Europe, and the French company Valeo Equipments Moteur, responsible for the compatibility of parts and functions.

Small vehicle manufacturers include Clean Motion from Sweden, for whose EVIG model Valoe has already delivered solar panels (as shown above).