As pedal-assist electric cargo vehicles become increasingly common in urban logistics, questions around how these vehicles should communicate their presence to other road users are becoming more important. This project explores the development of appropriate Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) for this emerging vehicle typology, with a particular focus on objective safety performance and the needs of vulnerable road users.
The project brings together early-career collaborators from Minimal, a London-based mobility startup, and Aalto University, a multidisciplinary research institution in Finland.
The collaboration originated during a factory tour led by Jessie Ridler, Engineering Project Manager at Minimal, at the company’s West London facility. During the visit, Jamie Robinson, a student in the EIT Urban Mobility Masters Programme, noticed a speaker unit installed in Minimal’s Pedal 4 e-cargo vehicle. The discussion that followed revealed a close connection between Minimal’s work on audio safety technology and research already underway at Aalto University.
The resulting collaboration combines Minimal’s rapid innovation and production capabilities with Aalto’s expertise in technical acoustics research and artistic sound design.
Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems (AVAS) have been mandatory on type-approved electric vehicles for close to a decade, responding to the near-silent operation of electric powertrains at low speeds. The synthesised sounds used by these systems are now becoming a familiar feature of electric vehicles in urban environments.
Pedal-assist electric cargo vehicles are increasingly being adopted by leading operators across Europe. With applicable standards permitting gross vehicle weights of up to 650 kg, safety needs to be considered throughout their design. Minimal is the first manufacturer to introduce AVAS technology to a pedal-assist cargo vehicle, with the aim of improving detection by vulnerable road users, particularly people with visual disabilities.
However, an important question remains: what should a pedal-assist logistics vehicle sound like? These vehicles sit between bicycles and conventional motor vehicles, while existing AVAS legislation and design conventions provide limited guidance specific to this emerging category.
The project therefore seeks to establish which acoustic signatures are most appropriate for pedal-assist logistics vehicles and, importantly, which perform best against objective safety criteria.
The project will work with sound artists from the Sound in New Media programme at Aalto University to develop a range of warning sounds specifically for pedal-assist cargo vehicles.
The design brief will draw on expert interviews, consultation with vulnerable road users, and survey data. The resulting sounds will then be evaluated in Aalto’s acoustics laboratory against safety metrics including audibility and localisability.
The project will also be supported by Professor Judy Edworthy of the University of Plymouth, whose work includes AVAS systems for electric buses in Sydney and a digital bike bell developed for a major cycle manufacturer.
The principal output will be a whitepaper setting out best practice for AVAS on pedal-assist logistics vehicles. It is intended to provide guidance for other manufacturers developing comparable audio safety systems.
By focusing on the requirements of vulnerable road users, including people with visual disabilities, the project aims to contribute to the development of safer audio systems for pedal-assist e-cargo vehicles and support their role within wider urban Vision Zero objectives.