About the Project
NOTE: Given the active interest from quite a few members, thinking if it would make more sense to make it interactive though a project wiki. That way it can be more participative. Please leave a comment so that I know the interest level, based on which will start a thread.
Develop cost effective plug-in hybrid kits for millions of existing vehicles on the road. Unlike pure electric cars which have limited number of kilometers before recharge, plug-in hybrid can bring the best of both worlds, i.e run on clean , low cost energy as electricity from the grid and in case it runs out of charge, switch to fossil fuel energy. A dual approach would also help reduce toxic wastes from batteries since the size for batteries can be significantly reduced due to dual energy approach i.e much less storage required.
Plug-in hybrid is not a new concept all together. There have been several conversion attempts , though mostly outside the country. Most of them have been sort of experimental. A few did graduate to ready made off the shelf conversion kits but they are priced upwards of $10k, prohibitive from a Indian consumer point of view. Besides they are designed for much bigger cards compared to what is common on the Indian roads.
This project’s aim is to source and build a prototype through indigenous parts bringing the cost of the conversion down significantly. Our target is to enable a break even within 1 year for some one running about 50 -75 kms per day.
Currently the plan is to follow a 48V approach with AC induction motors as the drive. While this would make the kit somewhat more expensive, it is expected to be low on maintenance especially given Indian driving conditions. Our approach is to bypass the transmission completely and hook the AC motor through a 2 speed automatic transmission. This should help reduce the size of the motor considerably (as space is at a premium) besides improving the efficiency and torque. The IC engine output would be hooked to the alternator (bigger) replacing the regular vehicle alternator.
Based on current data, estimate cost per km on petrol for a typical car to be about Rs 6-7 per kilometer. We should be able to bring it down by 10x to about 60 p per kilometer on electric charge from the grid.
Project Action Plan
Project Action Plan
1Initial Prototype
Initial Prototype
Located in:,
Who will this help Rise
limitless: People will save money, clean up environment, reduce capital expenditure on newer cars which translates to making existing vehicles serve longer.
How will this help them Rise?
Test Lab
Project Champion
Project Location
This Project Needs
Volunteers
4 Electrical Mechanical Engineers with exposure to Electric Cars
Equipments
1 Test Lab
Funding
₹1000000
aniruddha kshirsagar
1 year ago
my doubt is that have you considered a double motor car in which the system switches automatically to the induction motor when you car attains a constant speed when on a highway or any road. and the moment you need a relatively large amount o accelaration it again switches to internal combustion motor ??? your idea is very impressive ,and i hope you get all the financial help you need
aniruddha kshirsagar
1 year ago
my doubt is that have you considered a double motor car in which the system switches automatically to the induction motor when you car attains a constant speed when on a highway or any road. and the moment you need a relatively large amount o accelaration it again switches to internal combustion motor ??? your idea is very impressive ,and i hope you get all the financial help you need
aniruddha kshirsagar
1 year ago
my doubt is that have you considered a double motor car in which the system switches automatically to the induction motor when you car attains a constant speed when on a highway or any road. and the moment you need a relatively large amount o accelaration it again switches to internal combustion motor ??? your idea is very impressive ,and i hope you get all the financial help you need
aniruddha kshirsagar
1 year ago
my doubt is that have you considered a double motor car in which the system switches automatically to the induction motor when you car attains a constant speed when on a highway or any road. and the moment you need a relatively large amount o accelaration it again switches to internal combustion motor ??? your idea is very impressive ,and i hope you get all the financial help you need
aniruddha kshirsagar
1 year ago
my doubt is that have you considered a double motor car in which the system switches automatically to the induction motor when you car attains a constant speed when on a highway or any road. and the moment you need a relatively large amount o accelaration it again switches to internal combustion motor ??? your idea is very impressive ,and i hope you get all the financial help you need