NEW DELHI: Want to get your car converted into an electric vehicle? IIT Delhi’s Centre of Excellence for Research on Clean Air (CERCA) is ready to help. The IIT thinktank on Monday launched an initiative on electric mobility with the retrofitting of a vintage Beetle car of 1948 model into an electric vehicle.
Hemant Kaushal, project coordinator, CERCA, believes that “there is a need to improve infrastructure for electric vehicles in Delhi where air pollution is an issue.” “CERCA is ready to provide expertise and help all those willing to get their cars retrofitted into electric vehicles,” he said.
The Beetle car programme was attended by several members of Heritage Motoring Club of India (HMCI).
While launching the electric Beetle, IIT-D director V Ramgopal Rao pointed out how “e-mobility has been the buzzword in the automobile industry and the need to adopt e-mobility is not just essential, but also pressing for safeguarding the planet.”
Rao stated that this was the time to realise the damage already caused and bring a halt to it by shifting to more sustainable alternatives, such as electric vehicles.
CERCA founder Arun Duggal said that “CERCA was established to promote research and actions to reduce air pollution. Electric Beetle is a symbolic action to demonstrate that we can take actions to eliminate air pollution in Delhi-NCR and in India by use of technology and innovation. One of the most amicable answers to the problem of air pollution today is the transition to EVs, which are considered 100 per cent emission-free.”