Electric vehicles are gaining popularity in India and around the world. Several main stream vehicle manufacturers like Tata, Mahindra, MG and Hyundai have already introduced electric vehicles in Indian market. Two-wheeler manufacturers have also entered this space. In coming years, electric vehicles are expected to be the future of mobility. India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki is yet to launch an electric vehicle but, we have Northway Motorsport who has converted a Maruti Suzuki Dzire compact sedan into a fully electric car using their own kit. How does it work? let’s find out in the video.

The video has been uploaded by PlugInIndia Electric Vehicles on their YouTube channel. The video starts with the video presenter introducing Hemank who is behind this conversion project. In order to convert a petrol or a diesel car into an electric vehicle, they go back to the drawing board and start working on a kit that suits this particular vehicle.

Not every kit would be a fit for every car. They consider the platform, weight of the car and other components and also check the engine weight before finalising the kit. In short, they start designing everything from scratch. After analysing every factor, they build their own motor, controller and other components. All these components that are build at Northway comply with the AIS (1,2 and 3 ) norms.

Another benefit of this kit is that the customer does not have to upgrade the suspension or tyres after installing the conversion kit. This makes it more efficient and cost effective in comparison to other electric vehicle systems. Under the hood, the car gets electric motor and other components. Hemank did not speak about most of the things as they were sent for patenting.

A petrol version of Maruti Dzire does 0-100 in around 12 seconds and the electric version can do the same under 10 seconds which is quick. This new electric setup in the Dzire is generating way more power than original engine and that has allowed them to use a smaller motor and it even has a higher top speed. The setup used in this Dzire is smaller than Nexon EV and has a top speed of 160 kmph (nexon EV top speed- 120 kmph).

The range on this car depends up on the battery package you choose. There are variety of options available and a 20 KwH battery has a maximum range of 240 kms when fully charged. This is the realistic range that this Dzire will be offering. Coming to charging, there is an inbuilt charger which is placed under the hood. It also supports fast charging. Using the normal setup, it will take upto 8 hrs to completely charge the battery and a fast charger would do the same in an hour. It even ahs regenerative braking.

All the batteries pack and other electrical alterations have been done under the car or the bonnet. Boot space on this car has not been affected which is a good thing. The kit installed in the Dzire is certified for testing purposes. Certification to produce it commercially is still pending as they have not finalised a partner yet.

The car drives like a regular manual car and has a working gear lever and clutch. This has been done in order to get the best driving range from the vehicle. Torque is instantly available from the moment you start the vehicle and the same is seen in the video too. The NVH levels have improved as their is no IC engine under the hood. Overall, the conversion looks pretty neat and promising.