BANGALORE: Thanks to the ever-increasing petrol price and vehicular pollution, it's not uncommon to see a number of electric vehicles in the city today. Automobile companies are coming up with battery-driven cars and motorbikes to reduce fuel consumption and emission of harmful gases. As innovative as the concept is, our country is not prepared to facilitate such a shift, reckons Reuven Gomes, a final year student at Brindavan College of Engineering.
"With electric vehicles, you can't be sure of how long a full battery will last and there are very few places where you can recharge them here in Bangalore," he explains.
Gomes, along with his friends Milan Budha, Stephen Monteiro and Sohan Shenai, has devised a hybrid three-wheeler that functions both on electrical power and an internal combustion engine. Unlike other three-wheelers, the vehicle named Trio Hybrid has two wheels on the front and one at the back.
"It has been scientifically proven that a vehicle can be made more stable this way. There is less chance of it toppling," Reuven says.
The wheels in the front carry a hub-type brushless electric DC motor each and the back wheel has a 100cc internal combustion engine. The vehicle is capable of functioning on either source of propulsion. "Since the vehicle is much smaller than the standard four-wheeler, it is lighter and easier to navigate. It is also sufficient to use a smaller engine, which ensures lesser fuel consumption and greater efficiency," he says.
Speaking further about the project, Reuven says, "Initially, we were planning to build a vehicle that works on solar power. But that didn't pan out as it turned out to be an expensive and unfeasible way to go."
"Trio Hybrid is capable of running for a kilometre at the cost of `2.6, and that is only because we used a second-hand engine. With a new engine, it should be able to save more money," he explains.
Reuven goes on to list out the advantages of the model, "The vehicle produces less noise and friction while on electric mode, which in turn decreases wear and tear. Since it's a hybrid, it is better than other internal combustion engine-driven vehicles at higher altitudes. There will be no ignition problems in winter. And most importantly, it's economical and efficient in congested traffic conditions."
The team, however, thinks the model could be better with the use of an alternator, which converts mechanical into electrical energy.
"Towards the end, we ran out of funds, or we could have ve added it. An alternator increases makes the model more fuel efficient," says Reuven.
The engineers-to-be are preparing to present the project at their college next month and they also plan to enter it in various tech competitions.