BHUBANESWAR: A group of five third-year students of Government Polytechnic Bhubaneswar has developed a three-wheeler electric vehicle as part of an industry-institute collaboration initiative.
Powered with four batteries, the iron and glass vehicle can ferry two passengers—with a maximum carrying capacity of 2 quintals— at a speed of about 50km/hour up to 100km. It needs to be recharged after covering every 100km for about four hours for further run.
“We took about 10 days to manufacture the vehicle after 10 days of industrial training on the institute campus. The total expense was Rs. 1.5 lakh,” said Subhasish Mohapatra, a third-year student member of the team.
He also claimed that they were now planning to add solar panels to the vehicle so that it can run sans electricity as well.
The vehicle was developed in collaboration with Bhubaneswar-based Skyy Rider Electric Private Limited.
Earlier, the state government had set up an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing unit at the government polytechnic in collaboration with the Skyy Rider.
The polytechnic had inked a pact with Skyy Rider to help enable the EV eco-system and provide the necessary facilities to produce more than 16 categories of vehicles.
The objective is to produce electric vehicles for commercial, medical and public utility use. “Such an initiative will help reduce the skill gap in industry. This will also increase the placement prospects of the students,” said Government Polytechnic Bhubaneswar Principal, Rajat Kumar Panigrahy.