Tech to convert old car into hybrid one

A city-based startup has come up with a technology that can convert existing cars into hybrid vehicles, and improve mileage by 25% by retrofitting a powertrain device.

This comes against the backdrop of a study by the IISc, which projected that vehicles in Bengaluru will generate 1.89 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030.

The number of vehicles in the city has seen a dramatic rise, with an average of over 350 cars and 1,300 two-wheelers hitting the road every day.

"Rising fuel prices and poor air quality are things we cannot wish away. They will only get worse. While electric vehicles are definitely the future, how we go about it is not yet clear. But we found that there is an urgent necessity to find a solution for the existing vehicles," said Amitabh Saran, founder and CEO, Altigreen Propulsion Labs.

Two experts from engineering and one from corporate finance joined hands with Saran in 2012.

"These vehicles run at about 25% efficiency with 75% of fuel not contributing to the movement of the vehicle. The kit converts this waste energy into electric energy which will power the engine," he explained. The kit has both engines, but doesn't take any external
electricity.

"Conventional vehicles run at about 25% efficiency. The kit converts 75% waste energy into electric energy, which will power the engine," he said, adding that it will come with a hybrid performance index and shows kinetic energy recovery percentage.

Saran said awareness that electricity in the country itself was not clean owing to our dependence on coal further encouraged him to look for solutions to urgent problems.

Today, the company is working with global automobile manufacturers in developing and improvising electric vehicles. Saran, whose startup came into being after his stint in Nasa, is keen on the second product that can convert three- and four-wheelers into partially electrified hybrid
vehicles.

In the early days, they realised that even if electric vehicles become common, it is not going to change the fact that there are 20 million four-wheelers and millions of other vehicles guzzling fuel.