GreenStar SRL is an SME that produce electric three-wheelers composed of a steel framed chassis and a fiber glass body. The powertrain was originally acquired in China. Their markets are the local market (Uruguay) and they are also working to allocate their product in the USA.
"GreenStar is a company created to develop the manufacture and commercialization of electric vehicles, both for recreation and for urban logistics. Its objective is to produce environmentally friendly vehicles, starting from a base that adds value to its products and also generates qualified national labour."
Pablo Dángelo, Designer
Achievements
It was found that the vehicle adequately meets the benefits for use in urban activities. Specifically, it was found that its autonomy is sufficient for daily use (more than 80 km with one charge), while its adaptation to an urban environment is satisfactory. The vehicle responds very well to acceleration demands, and also meets the safety and regulatory requirements for this type of vehicle. It should be noted that the vehicle has no lateral windows nor lateral glasses, so it wouldn’t be entirely suitable for its use in raining days. It was recommended to the designer to work on that in order to improve such handicap if it is compared to other similar urban vehicles.
Finally, it was found that its load capacity is enough for several urban work and activities (two passengers and more than 200 kg and 250 liters), what is one of the main advantages in comparison to similar urban vehicles that are sold in Montevideo city. As regards the easiness for operations, it was found that it´s easy to go in and go out to/from the vehicle, it´s easy to drive, to park and to load and download goods and merchandise.
Innovation
GreenStar exprored the vehicle prototyping with Valeo powertrains. Given its sucess, they decided to go ahead with a new vehicle (4-wheeler) by using the powertrain provided by Valeo in the context of the SOLUTIONSplus project. They are now working on the first prototype which was successfully tested on a bench.