Fight pollution with electric fuel

if there’s one thing bangaloreneeds most of all right now, it’s freedom from pollution. after diesel andlpg, electricity seems to be the only answer to this overwhelming problem.electric vehicles (ev) have a lot working in their favour. the environment atlarge is benefited the most. at the moment, the only electric car running inindia is the reva. this solar-powered electric car designed by the students ofrv college of engineering might be the next entrant into this market. thebiggest advantage of evs is the ‘nopollution’ factor. since there iszero emission, air and noise pollution is avoided. the age of an electric cardoesn’t matter since it’s free from the government ‘euronorm’ of pollution standards. “electric fuel is especially suitedfor bangalore since there are a lot of hydroelectric plants nearby,� sayschetan maini, managing director, reva. this benefits the plant too becausecharging of evs is done at night. with electrical cars, investment on the euronorm is nil. so economically, the user and the country is benefited. with thereva, the cost per kilometre is 40 paisa which is 40 per cent less than therunning cost of other vehicles. electric vehicles are also easy to run sincethey are compact. the reva made with american technology has no clutch and gear.servicing and charging is also simpler because there are fewer mechanicalcomponents. two electric chips are used as on-board computers that reflect theenergy in the vehicle. an on-board charger with a plug point of 15 amps and 220volts also acts as a built in stabiliser. it takes six hours for a full chargeand 2 1/2 hours to complete 80 percent of the charge in a vehicle that’sin use. hybrid varieties of electric cars are also a future possibility. thesolar-powered car made completely in bangalore with indian technology isanexample. this is more expensive than just electrical vehicles. “a lot ofpeople feel that the solar car is not viable. but the durability factor is thesame as electrical cars because the batteries have to be changed asoften,� says zarryl lobo, owner, klassic replicas, the workshop where thesolar car was made. according to him, nowhere in the world is the electricvehicle a complete success yet. but hybrid solar cars have an advantage overelectric vehicles. every time the brake is applied, current is generated torecharge the battery. in the city there is obviously more power generation. thecar gets charged as long as it receives light and travels at 105 kmph. the onlyproblem is speed and range. solar power charging drops to 72 percent on a cloudyday. bangaloreans aren’t too comfortable with electric fuel yet. “inindia people feel that electric fuel is a very new thing and this increasesresistance. but electric fuel is very old and has been in use in other countriesfor a very long time. a bangalore company had also introduced it many yearsago,� says maini. “any knowledgeable bangalorean should take to thisfuel because it will save the city from pollution. it was amazing how manypeople responded positively to the solar powered car,� adds lobo.according to maini, the government must support this fuel to fight pollution inthe city. “creating awareness and funding research projects is somethingthe government should do for this fuel and evs. excise tax is 16 percent now forthe fuel and there aren’t any uniform policies. this must becorrected,� adds maini.