Always Repair
It Anywhere
2024 — 2025
A car the owner can repair at home.
The page below is a fifteen-month walk-through of the build: the concept, the sketches, the chassis, the moulds, the panels we cut by hand, and the reveal at the Evoluon.
- Team
- TU/ecomotive
- Institution
- TU/e
- Type
- Design lead & Assembly manager
- Team
- ≈ 20 students across multiple disciplines
- Budget
- € 250 000+
- Finished
- November 2025
- Automotive Design
- Mechanical Engineering
- Concept Creation
- DfM
- Multidisciplinary Collaboration
- Visual Communication
- Fusion 360
Glimpse of the process
A bunch of students who never built a car before came together.
...and among them - us designers.
I was responsible for leading the design process.
First we had to define the concept of ARIA.
What problem do we address?
How could the automotive industry do better?
How do we want the car to look like?
What silhouette should it have?
Full-scale blackboard sketch helped us define proportions.
Our sketches turned into a surface 3D model.
First in Blender, then Alias, then a solid one — which I had to split into body panels.
Meanwhile, our engineering team collaborated with us to design a steel chassis based on the exterior design
We sent our surface 3D models to a mould-making company.
Stack of MDF plates CNC-milled into shape
We took turns drilling vacuum suction holes.
Then we sanded the surfaces
...and applied non-stick polyurethane coating.
Another company took the moulds and vacuum-formed our panels.
Each panel had to be precisely cut and trimmed by hand.
Not much room for error
A little test run
Demonstrated the importance of traction control.
Aligning and adjusting the panels was perhaps the most challenging part of the process
And demanded multiple long days (and nights) of work
Company Van Wees worked closely with us to manufacture our interior out of their cross-ply panels
Composite blend of shredded Carbon Fiber and polypropylene
My colleague Andrés designed these beautiful 3D printed seat frames
And stitched the upholstery himself.
Picking the right wrap and visitng the wrapping company
We felt blue was the most representative.
I had the pleasure of presenting ARIA at Evoluon (Eindhoven)
...and narrate the unveiling itself.
A great conclusion to more than a year long project.
15 months to make one ARIA.
Glimpse of the process
- AUG '24CONCEPTCHAPTER 01Concept definition
A bunch of students who never built a car before came together.
- SEP '24
...and among them - us designers.
I was responsible for leading the design process.
- OCT '24
First we had to define the concept of ARIA.
What problem do we address?
How could the automotive industry do better?
- NOV '24DESIGNCHAPTER 02Design & sketching
How do we want the car to look like?
- DEC '24
What silhouette should it have?
Full-scale blackboard sketch helped us define proportions.