Students give Maruti 800 a makeover

KOCHI: In an era of digitalisation, the country is also all set to welcome an all electric transportation by the year 2030 and cars running on petrol and diesel today would soon face obsolescence.
To replace the current transportation system, new vehicles have to be produced and the solution to this is the inclusion of electric cars. The result is that the cars on the road today will have to be scrapped, melted and recycled to make way for the new age electric vehicles. These processes, from scrapping to manufacturing, will unfortunately result in pollution.

To tackle this situation, a set of young and enthusiastic mechanical engineering students - Anupama Johnson, Jeffin Francis, Aby Biju N and Jeswant Mathew, of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kakkanad, came up with an innovative idea of converting an old car to a fully functioning electric car. Under the guidance of their mentors Dr John M George, Asst Prof Vishnu Sankar and Asst Prof. Thomas K P, they converted a Maruti 800, synonymous to middle class Indian, to a fully electric car.
The students came across this idea to convert the petrol engine into an electric one to make the electric mobility plan effective but in a different way.  

“We found that the electric mobility plan had a drawback. Once the cars are scrapped, it need sto be recycled and it will again add to more pollution. So we thought that if we convert the normal engine into an electric one, it will reduce pollution,” said Aby Biju N, one of the student from the team.
The project took 20 days to complete where they replaced the petrol engine of the Maruti 800 with a 2HP BLDC motor at a low cost of R 50,000.

Their car integrates new age technologies like Re-generative braking and gearless driving, a boon to those who prefer automatic transmission. The car works like the old Maruti minus the pollution, noise and maintenance. The car can travel up to a distance of 40 Km, on a single charge, and can reach speeds of 70 km/hr, ideal for metropolitan cities. A person travelling 40km daily would incur a cost of R750, which is less than 20 per cent the cost of using the old car. “We bought the vehicle and the spare parts for the prototype. If the internal combustion engine is 37 hp (Horse power), for an electric motor engine its just 2 hp. But, it does the same work,” said Aby.

The car was tested in various conditions by motor vehicle inspectors Dileep Kumar, Sharat Senan, Anilkumar of RTO, Ernakulam and the director of Maruti Indus motors, Afdhel Abdul Wahab. They agreed in unison that the converted vehicle offers the same performance as that of the old car, that too without the loud noise of the engine.

As a culmination of their efforts, Greenfolks India is the start-up company that these students have planned. Converting any normal car to a new age electric car in an hour’s time is the idea behind their company.

Other services they plan for the future are green and sustainable energy solutions, electric vehicles and pollution reduction through sustainable transportation for everyday use. Their projects fall under ‘The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2030’ and ‘The Make In India’ initiative as all products will be of Indian make.

Recognising the need of the hour and the importance of Electric Mobility for the future, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University of Kerala has planned to offer an elective course on electric vehicles. This move further strengthens the need of this project given the present scenario.  

The students won the first prize and Best Young Technovator Award along with a cash prize of  R10,000 in the International Expo at St Albert’s College which was held on January 4, 5 and 6 this year. They also won second place in the Hult Prize International Expo at College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram which was held on December 21 in 2017.

Launch

The launch of the all-electric Maruti 800 made by the students will take place in the presence of Anupama Johnson, Jeffin Francis, Aby Biju N, Jeswant Mathew, Students of RSET , Revd. Fr Jose Alex Oruthayapally CMI, Director of Rajagiri School of Engineering Technology, Dr A Unnikrishnan, Principal RSET, Dr John M George, Vice-principal RSET, Vishnu Sankar, Asst Prof DME RSET, Thomas K P , Dr Manoj G Tharian, Associate Prof DME RSET,  Afdhel Abdul Wahab, Director Indus Motors Sunil Kumar , Sarath Senan, Anilkumar V, Motor Vehicle Inspectors, RTO Ernakulam