Engg students develop economical, fuel-efficient car

Nagpur: A group of

engineering

students from the city have developed a car that would cost as much as a

motorcycle

. They have also taken care to make the vehicle

fuel-efficient

,

environment-friendly

and one that gives better mileage than a motorbike. They are looking forward to bring the three-wheeled car to the market soon. Sagar Mahule, Suraj Wadibhasme, Rohit Shriwas, Suchit Dhoble, Jagdish Singh and Vaibhav Badwaik from SB Jain Institute of Technology, Management and Research made the

Reverse Trike

as a project for their final year mechanical course. The car has garnered much attention at some national-level project competitions. The team has already applied for a patent on their design, and is now looking for ways to expand this college project into a real world product. “We had seen a video on the internet while researching the topic of our final year project. It had a battery operated trike (three-wheeled) vehicle made by an American company. It was an experimental design which could only seat one person. We thought it was an interesting idea which could be modified into something more practical and usable,” said Sagar. In order to make the vehicle more reasonably priced, they used a bike engine, a gearbox, a silencer from an old scooter and other such equipment to modify the vehicle. In fact, the three-wheeled vehicle was modified to have two front wheels and one rear wheel to make it more stable, added Suraj. “While the current design is made as a two-seater car, there is scope to increase it to one that can seat four or five people,” said Rohit. The design and fabrication has cost the team around 56,000 over a period of three months. “We would need another 10,000 for an impressive body for the car. Still, its total cost would not be more than 70,000,” said Suchit. Jagdish said the team is still working on ways to improve the vehicle further on counts like suspension, stability and steering. “Other than using it as a means of conveyance, the trike could be used for transportation at golf courses, airports and railway stations. We have also thought of making changes that would enable to change the vehicle into an all-terrain vehicle, swing cars and for other such uses,” added Vaibhav. The boys are grateful to their guide professor Faisal Hussain, head of the department VM Suple and CEO of the college Sanjeev College for their support and help they got for the project. BOX 1: Some technical features of the car * A 125CC engine of a motorbike has been attached to a gearbox to give the vehicle the ability to have reverse motion * A double wishbone type suspension has been attached to the front to enable it to move at an inclination * It has two wheels at front and one wheel at the rear, which prevents the vehicle from tilting even when driven at a very high speed * Rack And Pinion steering system has been used instead of a power steering for better steering and stability BOX 2: ADVANTAGES * Costs lesser than any other car available in the market * Longer life * Not much maintenance required * Less polluting * Better mileage than a car and motorbike * Reduces the chances of getting into an accident * Can also be run on LPG