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Which of the current big manufacturer will survive?


OliverH

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The upcoming regulation (PLEV) will give the manufacturer a new challenge to meet requirements. The Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV) standard has some key requirements:

  • redundant power management (batteries and power supply at the components)
  • redundant control system (Control board and motor driver)
  • Authorisation device (to start the EUC)
  • a bell connected with the device, at least at start up to make sure it's carried with the rider
  • fatigue and endurance tests of core components
  • battery safety

Manufacturer willing to follow this path will see sales numbers in the end they've never seen before. 

Others not following this path will continue focusing on Asia/ America up to the moment where regulation will also hit them on this market.

In the next two years we'll see up and downs of manufacturer and it looks like we see a dramatic shift in sales ranking. It's time for the underdogs with engineering skills and a structured way to drive business. This companies are more open to market requirements and visit exhibitions in Europe and so on, visit distributors or conducting sales launches at the main markets up front.

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Cool, where did you get those requirements from? Last time I looked into this I learnt that the standard were not supposed to be finalized until some time around the end of 2016.

 

 

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39 minutes ago, flass said:

Cool, where did you get those requirements from? Last time I looked into this I learnt that the standard were not supposed to be finalized until some time around the end of 2016.

 

 

I was in Paris on the last PLEV meeting in september. PLEV is planned to be finalised by end of 2017. So as a manufacturer I shall now start with development. First comes first serves.

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There's currently a standard for Personal light electric vehicle (PLEV) in the work. Derived from the safety of machinery (ISO12100) as a standard for vehicle without a type approval. The PLEV standard incorporates requirements from other standards (battery and so on).
PLEV, as based on ISO 12100 safety of machinery, deals with hazards. So foreseeable risk and misuse has to been considered.

About PLEV standard
The European Commission established a Workgroup to build up a so called Typ C standard (much more detailed and for PLEV specific requirements) based on the ISO 12100 (Safety of machinery). This Workgroup has the naming CEN/TC 354/WG 4, which has the following meaning:
* CEN stands for European Commission
* TC for Technical Comitee 354
* WG 4 for Workgroup 4. 

The Workgroup 4 has the task to define technical requirements and test methods for Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV) based on safety of machinery. This are the framework/ limits where the PLEV standard can define requirements and test methods.  The European Commission give the task to AFNOR which led TC 354. The German DIN established a mirror board and worked with experts on the standard, made reviews and attended to the international meeting. eWheels.org is a member of the German mirror board at DIN.

Quick overview
There're currently 4 different classes of Personal light electric vehicle (PLEV) in 2 different speed limits divided (6 km/h and 25 km/h).
Currently the standard deals with 4 different classes and some sub-options:
* class 1: up to 6 km/h, non self balancing, no seating position
* class 2: up to 25 km/h, non self balancing, no seating position
* class 3: up to 6 km/h, self balancing, optional seating position
* class 4: up to 25 km/h, self balancing, optional seating position

A 6 km/h has limited requirements, some functions are optional.
A 25 km/h PLEV has a pedestrian mode (6 km/h), a higher safety requirement for e.g.
* redundant power management
* redundant control system 

Redundancy is necessary: If there's no possibility to stop the vehicle with manual brakes or continue drive with human interaction.

Pedestrian mode

All PLEV must be fitted with a switch to block them at 6 km/h if necessary. 

Unauthorised Use
The PLEV must be protected against unautorized use by third party (kids,..).

Bell
There must be measures that a bell is carried with the rider and the PLEV can only be started when the bell is connected via cable or radio.

Test methods
There will be test methods in place to deal with:
* fatigue test
* endurance test
* brake performance tests
and so on

Marking of boxes and products
A PLEV compliant device needs a marking of the standard on the box (so customs can block goods not being compliant) and the device is labeled with the necessary information and the PLEV class.

Self certification/ declaration
All certifications based on safety of machinery are self certifications. The manufacturer needs to make sure he has all necessary documents and test protocols available for inspection.
Also it's likely that consumer protection organizations will test this new devices and/ or they will be tested by Stiftung Warentest or other organizations/ test magazines against the standard. In case of fails consumer protection will act to fix the problems or to ban the products.

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There're talks with manufacturers and distributors. But there're still manufacturers today not getting the story of regulation and break through if sales after all is established. These are still working on niche stuff with no real benefit to the business target.

There's one project ramping up and an other driven by a distributor sorting out possibilities with their suppliers.

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@OliverH Nice. This is such a great summary on the AFNOR meeting. So does it mean there is no separation of EUC from the two or three wheels? They will all follow the same standard.

Looking from the 4 classes, there will be no more faster machines (over 25km/h) allowed to be driven on the road in Europe anymore. 

I guess Segway plays a big role in this meeting.

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4 hours ago, OliverH said:

I was in Paris on the last PLEV meeting in september. PLEV is planned to be finalised by end of 2017. So as a manufacturer I shall now start with development. First comes first serves.

I wish you good luck with that! However, I find it highly unlikely that there will be an EUC that meets these requirements available in any near future. The redundant systems will add a significant amount of both weight and space. And I guess the cost will be more than doubled. But in general I find the requirements very reasonable and I will definitely encourage any approach to create a EUC that will pass the criteria for the PLEV certification.

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1 hour ago, lizardmech said:

Do they have any examples of what they consider redundant control? The proposals are somewhat vague and not inline with other safety schemes covering things from medical respirators, automotive standards and aerospace.

Redundancy is a rather well-defined concept - to duplicate component(s) so that if one fails the other can take over completely. Segway for example has this for all critical subsystems (also clearly stated by the price tag).

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5 hours ago, OliverH said:
  • Authorisation device (to start the EUC)
  • a bell connected with the device, at least at start up to make sure it's carried with the rider

I was actually thinking about exactly this and that could be implemented very simply by having RFID / BT dongle (even wearable at your hand or fingers) with dual purpose:

1. To unlock / "start" your EUC

2. To be used as a bell during ride.

You can still indeed put it in your pocket or backpack and NOT use it during ride but you can as well not use bell mounted on your bicycle handle bars :P 

Cheapest version can consist of the purely mechanical "bicycle" bell with built in RFID (ID / IC) chip used to unlock and start / power up EUC.

I'm currently actually looking into adding RFID reader to all my wheels and use RFID chip card / dongle / ring (JAKCOM) to unlock those. Other thing I'd like to see is an "integrated" safety (training) belt. Basically auto roll-in belt with detachable hand / carbine at the end fitted inside of the shell and anchored to the strong inner part so you'd not need to use an auxiliary "luggage" belt looped through the EUC's handle.

I have big hopes for Inmotion to join early in this process so hopefully with a bit of push from @Jason McNeil and other respected resells they'll stay ahead of the pack.

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1 hour ago, flass said:

Redundancy is a rather well-defined concept - to duplicate component(s) so that if one fails the other can take over completely. Segway for example has this for all critical subsystems (also clearly stated by the price tag).

Segway would fail these requirements as they only have one gyro assembly for both redundant sections.

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24 minutes ago, HEC said:

I was actually thinking about exactly this and that could be implemented very simply by having RFID / BT dongle (even wearable at your hand or fingers) with dual purpose:

1. To unlock / "start" your EUC

2. To be used as a bell during ride.

You can still indeed put it in your pocket or backpack and NOT use it during ride but you can as well not use bell mounted on your bicycle handle bars :P 

Cheapest version can consist of the purely mechanical "bicycle" bell with built in RFID (ID / IC) chip used to unlock and start / power up EUC.

I'm currently actually looking into adding RFID reader to all my wheels and use RFID chip card / dongle / ring (JAKCOM) to unlock those. Other thing I'd like to see is an "integrated" safety (training) belt. Basically auto roll-in belt with detachable hand / carbine at the end fitted inside of the shell and anchored to the strong inner part so you'd not need to use an auxiliary "luggage" belt looped through the EUC's handle.

I have big hopes for Inmotion to join early in this process so hopefully with a bit of push from @Jason McNeil and other respected resells they'll stay ahead of the pack.

There're still people involved with the right connection in Germany. There're investors willing to spend money seeing the business case behind. The chance  for the underdogs.

Regarding the bell: That was a real issue. We came to the point, that:

  • it should be not operated (button on the EUC) on the device it self (no Focus on the road traffic)
  • no Radio connection to operate the bell because it can be interrupted (EMC stuff)
  • a skater bell with NFC/ BT device would be a good solution

As good as possible it shouild be made sure that the rider takes it with him. If you combine it with the authorisation device it's for sure.

1 hour ago, flass said:

Redundancy is a rather well-defined concept - to duplicate component(s) so that if one fails the other can take over completely. Segway for example has this for all critical subsystems (also clearly stated by the price tag).

Lizardmaech is right. Safety of machinery uses the less worth definition: Expanded availabilty to explain it in easy words. I've the pleasure to have a colleague which studies safety and we talked a lot on that.

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3 hours ago, cloudust said:

@OliverH Nice. This is such a great summary on the AFNOR meeting. So does it mean there is no separation of EUC from the two or three wheels? They will all follow the same standard.

Looking from the 4 classes, there will be no more faster machines (over 25km/h) allowed to be driven on the road in Europe anymore. 

I guess Segway plays a big role in this meeting.

I sat next to the guy from Segway. Segway is not as big as we think, but it's a well known brand and they did an awfull Job in the past. But there're players like Honda, Toyota, the French Sport super market comapany Decathlon which provide a lot of knowledge on testing. To become a supplier at them must be very hard. In the eScooter standup class we've micro, Egret.

Above 25 km/h is competition and not covered by PLEV.

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29 minutes ago, lizardmech said:

Segway would fail these requirements as they only have one gyro assembly for both redundant sections.

Not sure about. I think it's isolated in a good manner.

We could come to the point to use an project with sources available to be build on to have full control on the control system. All options are under inspection.

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Just now, OliverH said:

Not sure about. I think it's isolated in a good manner.

It only has one unit though, an electrical fault on the gyro unit board would cause a crash. I'm surprised how little they have updated it since the first model, no wonder they cost so much, they're built with parts from the 1990s.

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5 hours ago, OliverH said:

I was in Paris on the last PLEV meeting in september. PLEV is planned to be finalised by end of 2017. So as a manufacturer I shall now start with development. First comes first serves.

Sounds great! It's maybe a bit over optimistic, but this could open the possibilities to drive legally throughout europe next summer! 

Just the license plate issue could be the last hurdle for drivers living in a country which allows riding without license plate and wanting to drive in Germany/switzerland...

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I don't get it why some people try to outlaw all currently available EUCs, including all their natural future technological development and improvements. 

I don't see so much wrong with any and all of the EUCs that we can buy now. Of course, all EUCs can and should be improved and regulated (say a speed limit and a deceleration requirement), but I would rather prefer to see evolution than revolution. I have the vague suspicion that someone not yet in the market tries to overtake, monopolize and profit big time (as the thread title suggests).

I am all for measuring and certifying reliability, however dictating the technology how to achieve it (redundancy) seems to be the wrong approach. And that losing the bell means to push or carry the EUC home isn't in my list of (even remotely) relevant safety priorities either.

On the positive side, I have doubts that a legislation outlawing all currently operated and available EUCs is likely to succeed in those European countries where EUCs are currently regarded/treated as legal anyway.

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3 hours ago, lizardmech said:

It only has one unit though, an electrical fault on the gyro unit board would cause a crash. I'm surprised how little they have updated it since the first model, no wonder they cost so much, they're built with parts from the 1990s.

It has 3 Gyros inside

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3 hours ago, Chriull said:

Sounds great! It's maybe a bit over optimistic, but this could open the possibilities to drive legally throughout europe next summer! 

Just the license plate issue could be the last hurdle for drivers living in a country which allows riding without license plate and wanting to drive in Germany/switzerland...

If the PLEV standard is published (hopefully) by end of 2017 it needs to be incorporated in a new category of vehicle. The Scandinavians have shown how to realise that.

The plan is that PLEVs are non type approved vehicles without a licence plate.

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2 hours ago, MoNo said:

I don't get it why some people try to outlaw all currently available EUCs, including all their natural future technological development and improvements. 

I don't see so much wrong with any and all of the EUCs that we can buy now. Of course, all EUCs can and should be improved and regulated, but I would rather prefer to see evolution than revolution. I have the vague suspicion that someone not yet in the market tries to overtake, monopolize and profit big time (as the thread title suggests).

I am all for measuring and certifying reliability, however dictating the technological means how to achieve it (redundancy) seems to be the wrong approach. And loosing the bell to mean having to push or carry the EUC home isn't in my list of (even remotely) relevant safety priorities either.

On the positive side, I have doubts that a legislation outlawing all currently operated and available EUCs is likely to succeed in those European countries where EUCs are currently regarded/treated as legal anyway.

Looking on product safety laws/ street laws (still valid) there needs to be safety in mind:

German: betriebssicher, keine ausserordentliche Gefährdung für Fahrer/ Dritte

English: safe to operate no extraordinary risk for driver or third party.

So in most countries the EUCs are forbidden, only tolerated and in some cases allowed but most EUC are not fulfilling the requirements or there's no declaration to state conformity.

If someone likes to use an competition EUC he can still do it like today, depending on the national laws on private area.

The PLEV standard will test with fatigue/ endurance test that pedals, pedal arms and axle will last and that we don't see broken pedals like on on series of KS16/ 18. We force manufacturer to test what we discuss a lot of times here.

 

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10 hours ago, OliverH said:

The upcoming regulation (PLEV) will give the manufacturer a new challenge to meet requirements. The Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV) standard has some key requirements:

  • redundant power management (batteries and power supply at the components)
  • redundant control system (Control board and motor driver)
  • Authorisation device (to start the EUC)
  • a bell connected with the device, at least at start up to make sure it's carried with the rider
  • fatigue and endurance tests of core components
  • battery safety

Manufacturer willing to follow this path will see sales numbers in the end they've never seen before. 

Others not following this path will continue focusing on Asia/ America up to the moment where regulation will also hit them on this market.

In the next two years we'll see up and downs of manufacturer and it looks like we see a dramatic shift in sales ranking. It's time for the underdogs with engineering skills and a structured way to drive business. This companies are more open to market requirements and visit exhibitions in Europe and so on, visit distributors or conducting sales launches at the main markets up front.

under this conditons...i hope the "PLEV" will NEVER get reality for EUC's...

Just alone the first 2 points would make our wheels 3-4 times more expensive (if possible at all for a EUC, in my view a EUC can/will be never "redundant") and shut down small manufacters like KS or GW instantly...

sure my view is an exclusive sight/ opinion.....but i know what it cost Segway to get "redundancy" on their device...by today the only self balancing redundance device...and one of the main reasons why an Segway is 3 times more the price than an Ninebot elite...

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3 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

under this conditons...i hope the "PLEV" will NEVER get reality for EUC's...

Just alone the first 2 points would make our wheels 3-4 times more expensive (if possible at all for a EUC, in my view a EUC can/will be never "redundant") and shut down small manufacters like KS or GW instantly...

sure my view is an exclusive sight/ opinion.....but i know what it cost Segway to get "redundancy" on their device...by today the only self balancing redundance device...and one of the main reasons why an Segway is 3 times more the price than an Ninebot elite...

You can't compare Segway which is different as it is two wheeled. The electronic is not such expensive. 

As faster the EUC will become, the more accidents/ injuries happen it's likely that police size EUCs and Customs will block the EUcs. We're sticking in a one way. Whatever you can buy a PLEV complaint or a competition EUC. It's up to you. But there're many people like to commute with EUC, make tours on public street/ bike lanes. This people can use it legally. PLEV is the main stream market. PLEVs will have a bright future with the help of the Kyoto protocol. After 2020 looking forward to the target 2030 we'll see actions by gov to reduce CO2. EUCs can benefit from that when right positioned.

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4 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

under this conditons...i hope the "PLEV" will NEVER get reality for EUC's...

Just alone the first 2 points would make our wheels 3-4 times more expensive (if possible at all for a EUC, in my view a EUC can/will be never "redundant") and shut down small manufacters like KS or GW instantly...

Redundancy doesn't mean that the whole units or parts needs to be present twice / duplicated. It simply requires to avoid any "single point of failure" so if the controller board would have duplicate electronic parts for motor driving and circuit designed the way that it will still allow EUC to continue to drive (albeit for a limited period of time or at slower speed) and stop safely after one of the redundant parts (MOSFETs etc.) has failed it will fulfil the requirement. The same goes for batteries - as long as you'll have two or more separate battery packs each with own BMS and EUC would be able (again for a limited period of time or at slower speed) to continue to work with one of the packs down to allow safe stop it's all good. As most current EUCs already have multiply battery packs it would require only minor modifications to "isolate" the faulty pack while rest will still supply power. Redesigning of the controller board might incur some initial R&D cost but production price would not be that much higher than current CBs. Frankly I'd happily pay 30 - 50% more (even 100%) for fully tested and certified EUC. My health and life as well as those around me is worth that!

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@OliverH you seem to suggest that all currently available EUCs are so dangerous that they should be (or become) illegal to operate on public grounds. I would like to see EUCs to be (or remain) legal if their maximal speed is limited to, say, 25km/h and if they can decelerate from 20km/h to zero within, say, 7m and, for future models, if they stop without a driver present. IIRC is the latter the Danish approach anyway.

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5 hours ago, MoNo said:

@OliverH you seem to suggest that all currently available EUCs are so dangerous that they should be (or become) illegal to operate on public grounds. I would like to see EUCs to be (or remain) legal if their maximal speed is limited to, say, 25km/h and if they can decelerate from 20km/h to zero within, say, 7m. IIRC is the latter the Danish approach anyway.

Dangerous is a hard sentence. They're not specified well or speed is only tested for low weights. As time to market is an issue they're tested by customers. 

As there's no redundancy you'll do a faceplant in case of a fault in control system/ motor driver. Currently available EUC will not become illegal, they're still in some countries. And I'm not sure if the countries allowing the EUCs with a category or tolerate them don't have a product safety law which also links to safety of machinery where the redundancy comes from. But don't wake up a sleeping dog.

Norway (their standardisation agency) has contributed some work to PLEV. I think the pedestrian mode cones from the Scandinavian countries. Need to fill that up at the post above.

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