Student Team Builds Modular EV You Can Actually Repair Yourself - Yanko Design

"A student team in the Netherlands decided that design logic works against long-term sustainability and affordability, so they built ARIA, a compact electric city car that treats owner repair as a core feature rather than an afterthought. The bright blue prototype with its upward-opening doors represents the tenth vehicle from TU/ecomotive at Eindhoven University of Technology, and it carries a philosophy that feels almost countercultural in 2025: if you own it, you should be able to fix it."

"The name stands for "Anyone Repairs It Anywhere," and the team took that promise seriously. Six independent battery modules sit accessible from the vehicle's side without needing a lift. Exterior panels are designed for quick removal and refitting using standardized fasteners, so cosmetic damage can be addressed at home. A companion app reads the car's status and walks owners through maintenance procedures. The team even ships a built-in toolbox with the vehicle, which signals exactly how they expect ARIA to be used."

"What makes this project notable is not the ambition alone. Student teams have built conceptual EVs before, including earlier TU/ecomotive prototypes that scrubbed CO2 from the air or used recycled ocean plastic. ARIA differs because it tackles a problem that actually keeps EV owners awake at night: repair costs that can exceed the vehicle's value when something goes wrong. Traditional EV battery packs are monolithic units, heavy and powerful but designed as single replaceable components."

The team at TU/ecomotive built ARIA, a compact electric city car emphasizing owner repair and modularity. Six independent battery modules sit accessible from the vehicle's side without a lift. Exterior panels use standardized fasteners for quick removal and refitting so cosmetic damage can be addressed at home. A companion app reads vehicle status and walks owners through maintenance procedures, and a built-in toolbox ships with the car. Modularity aims to reduce repair times and costs by avoiding full-pack replacements and by enabling independent or at-home fixes amid limited trained mechanics and proprietary diagnostic barriers.

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