The Indian Institute of Technique (IIT) Guwahati has created a technology that grades electric vehicle (EV) motors and batteries and recommends the best drivetrain components for the Indian market to original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
However, this is a one-of-a-kind way of standardising electronic vehicles based on Indian drive-cycles.
Until now, IIT Guwahati researchers have not considered Indian drive-cycles. The developed driving cycles are not focused on rural and urban drive cycles.
Moreover, the electric vehicles currently on the market also fail to cater for India’s diverse climatic conditions.
Currently, no original equipment manufacturer OEM employs this technology, and they have requested drive-cycle data from Indian vehicles.
This IIT Guwahati research is to develop better and more efficient drivetrains based on specific regions.
Further, this is especially advantageous for new businesses. The goal of this research is to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.
Recent fires in Ola e-scooters have also heightened EV battery safety worries among Indians.
IIT Guwahati focuses on Indian Climatic conditions in Rural and Urban locations
The IIT Guwahati team concentrated on Indian climatic conditions in both rural and urban locations. They devised a mechanism for recommending the optimal drivetrain to construct.
The drive-cycles developed by the IIT Guwahati team are one-of-a-kind and not found anywhere else.
Meanwhile, an electronic drivetrain (a combination of components that delivers power to the drive wheels) built in a humid atmosphere does not perform the same in a dry NS colder one.
As a result, OEMs are already exploring developing standard drive-cycles for Indian circumstances.
“The development in the field of next-generation energy-efficient EV technology is one of the most important breakthroughs required for the sustainable development of the country and to reduce carbon footprint. This development will augment this process and maximise the outcomes,” said Professor T. G. Sitharam, director of IIT Guwahati, in a statement.
“Our goal is to prepare a document that can enable the new entrants into the EV market and help in levelling the playing field. The other primary benefit of this entire exercise is to prepare the next generation of technocrats that are ready for an excellent career in EV technology anywhere in the world,” IIT Guwahati Professor Praveen Kumar, who headed the research at the varsity’s Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, remarked.
However, the current experiment focuses just on two-wheelers, the researchers are also attempting to develop this technology for four-wheelers.
E-scooter fires in India trigger safety concerns
A rash of fires involving electric scooters in India, including one manufactured by SoftBank-backed Ola Electric, is raising safety worries among some purchasers, in an early setback for a new sector that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is optimistic about.
Moreover, electric scooters and motorcycles are expected to account for 80 per cent of total two-wheeler sales in India by 2030, up from approximately 2 per cent now, and the Modi administration is paying companies billions of dollars in incentives to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) domestically.
Electric scooter sales have more than doubled this year, but however, the fires have caused some prospective customers to reconsider.
A video of an Ola e-scooter engulfed in flames went viral, sparking a rare government investigation. A Pure EV scooter also caught fire, while a flaming Okinawa Autotech Pvt bike killed two individuals.
Okinawa Autotech’s incident was more lethal. According to the company, a man and his daughter were killed after their e-bike “went up in flames.” According to the police statement, the most likely reason was an electrical short circuit during charging.
Further, the companies have stated that they are looking into the instances.
One of Ola’s popular black-coloured S1 Pro scooters was seen releasing smoke before swiftly catching fire on a busy thoroughfare in the western city of Pune.
Although most people still commute on packed Indian roads on petrol-guzzling motorcycles, E-scooter sales are driving India’s clean mobility revolution.
Also Read: NRL signs MoU With Engineers India Limited to expand research activities
