Application of ECQFD for enabling environmentally conscious design and sustainable development in an electric vehicle

Environmental consciousness is regarded as a vital concept for survival in the competitive market scenario. The need for infusing environmental consciousness during early stage of product design is important. This article reports a study which is focused on the application of Environmentally Conscious Quality Function Deployment (ECQFD) to an electric vehicle. ECQFD consists of four phases. ECQFD phases I and II are concerned with the identification important parts of electric vehicle that are vital for improving the environmental consciousness. ECQFD phases III and IV are used to analyze which design changes among the formulated design options of electric vehicle are most effective with regard to environmental improvement. The study results indicate that it could be applied in early product design and development stages for ensuring sustainability.