KIITians design economic,
eco-friendly electric vehicle
Four students of engineering stream of KIIT University, Bhubaneswar have developed a three-wheel rechargeable (battery operated) vehicle of Rs 1 lakh. The vehicle can be customized for different requirements. It has been developed completely in-house with the use of KIIT infrastructure. For the first time it is exhibited in the science expo at 99th Indian Science Congress.
Indian vehicle industry has embraced the new concept of electric vehicles that are very popular in the developed countries like America, Japan and China. The students claimed that with the rising cost of fuel at international and national level and at a time when the increasing levels of pollution and congestion are running high, the electrically charged vehicle will surely come as a solution for many.
Dipam Chaterjee, Harsh Shyam, Akhilesh Devangam of Mechanical Engineering and Pratik Patnaik of Electric Engineering have made the economic and eco-friendly vehicle. They said, "The conceptualization of the vehicle began last year. We have decided to develop it further and will make a fully developed prototype." Explaining about the features of three wheeled vehicle, Dipam said, "The area below the seat has been designed to carry luggage. The vehicle can run on the roads with an ease. It is the only electric vehicle that has gear box. Popular eco-friendly vehicles like YO–bikes also lack this feature. But this vehicle involves gear and several other mechanisms in an electric set-up."
Pratik informed the vehicle's motor controller and battery charging devices have been self designed. "For the exterior body we have used auto rickshaw because we wanted to test the project first. It takes care of pollution problems because of its electrical set up. The features of this vehicle will surely attract people, especially those who prefer eco-friendly vehicles."
Harsh said, "Electric cars are considered as the future driving technology all over the world. High cost of fuel, large carbon emissions and high running cost have set a widespread platform for electric cars. We are confident that our invention will benefit the society at large."
It will take at least one more year to fully develop the electric vehicle. However, the students are confident that even the final model will not cost them more than Rs1.5 lakh. |
