Electric vehicles are efficient but are far reach from the middle class and average people due to budget constraints. An electric scooter conversion kit may be a bridge to make middle-class and average people access electric vehicle technology.
Electric vehicles are eco-friendly, they neither emit harmful gases nor create noise pollution, and their operation is quiet with negligible noise and vibration. The rise in global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gases by vehicles and industries has caused a major concern about future climate change. The drastic climate change can take us to the ice age.
The increase in the number of sales of conventional vehicles powered by fossil fuels like petrol and diesel has created anxiety among the Government. If the proper steps are not taken now to cut the emission, living species may be subject to extinction due to the disaster caused by climate change. So the Governments of many countries have set a goal to cut their dependencies on fossil fuels and support the use of clean energy, renewable energy.
The Indian Government has set a target of producing 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 which will be about 50 per cent of clean energy.
India’s total vehicle count on roads was more than 300 million in 2020; in the financial year, 2021 India’s total vehicle production volume was 22.7 million. According to a study a typical vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of CO2 per year, along with other greenhouse gases. As per World Air Quality Report, 35 Indian cities are in the world’s top 50 polluted cities. So for the huge population of India necessary steps have to be taken at the earliest.
Electric Vehicles(EVs) are chosen as an alternative to conventional vehicles as they do not emit harmful gases. They have more benefits like low running cost, smooth and comfortable ride, low maintenance cost, lightweight, silent operation, impressive inbuilt features like wireless connectivity, etc. Many people are slowly realizing the importance and benefits of electric vehicles and thus the Electric Vehicle(EV) industry is booming, it was worth $163.01 billion in 2020 and is expected to cross $823.75 billion by 2030.
Electric vehicle technology is still in the advancement stage and quite far from accessible to the common people. The battery is the power source of the electric vehicle and scientists are working on materials for the battery technology that is powerful, efficient, reliable, durable, and has lower manufacturing cost. The current battery technology is capable of powering the EV only for a limited distance range.
The high manufacturing cost of electric propulsion kits and batteries has marked it an expensive price tag and the governments of a few countries count it under luxurious commodities and levy heavy import duty.
In India two-wheeler is the common transport mode used by commuters in India, its share is more than 75% of the total vehicles registered in India. It is hard to replace the entire two-wheelers with electric scooters in India. A brand-new electric scooter is expensive due to its high manufacturing and battery cost.
The Li-ion battery constitutes about 30-35 per cent of the electric vehicle cost. Common people could not make a bold decision about the purchase of electric scooters in India.
The electric scooter manufacturers are working hard to manufacture and launch affordable electric scooters at the same price as that petrol scooters. To solve this problem Engineers have come up with an innovative solution to make EV technology and electric scooters affordable to common people through the concept of retrofitting in which the petrol scooter is converted to electric at the least cost.
Retrofitting using petrol to electric scooter conversion kit:
Retrofitting is achieved by replacing the internal combustion engine of the petrol scooter with an electric propulsion kit and the fuel tank with a powerful battery. It is an economical way to make EV technology accessible to the common people and promote the usage of clean energy. Usually retrofitting a petrol scooter is achieved at one-third the cost of a brand-new electric scooter.
There is no need to buy a new electric scooter, indeed convert the existing petrol scooter to electric by retrofitting instead of throwing the outdated scooter model into the trash. It’s an amazing idea to get the petrol scooter converted to electric and make it a more valuable moving asset.
How to convert a petrol scooter to electric?
The petrol to electric conversion kit has several electric and electronic components designed, fabricated, and assembled by engineers. Various startup companies are offering retrofit services in Bangalore and other cities in India. The petrol to electric conversion kit in Bangalore and other cities is really helping common people access EV technology. The IC engine and fuel tank are removed and an electric conversion kit and the battery are added respectively.
5 Benefits of electric scooter conversion kit
- The efficiency is high compared to a petrol engine and almost one-fourth the running cost of a petrol scooter.
- Silent in operation with zero pollution.
- Compatible with many scooter models.
- Reduces the kerb weight of the scooter.
- Supports regenerative braking.
Petrol to electric scooter conversion kit parts
The kit has a powerful motor with a rating of more than 3.5 KW, a controller circuit, and a differential power transfer configuration. The kit is powered by a battery that is embedded within the vehicle. It is analogous to the IC engine of the petrol scooter. The controller controls the electric charge flow in a differential manner for a smooth riding experience.
Advantages of electric scooters
- They are quiet in operation and convenient to use
- They are eco-friendly, light, and compact
- They save a lot of money because they have low running costs (almost one-fourth of petrol scooters)
- They require less maintenance
- Smooth and comfortable ride
- Less Good and Service Tax and road tax
- Equipped with IoT technology that supports wireless connectivity to the smartphone.
- Best suitable for short-distance travel
- Conveniently charge the scooter at home
- Top 5 electric scooter manufacturers in India
Top 5 electric scooter manufacturers in India 2021
The leading electric scooter manufacturer in India are Hero Electric(36% market share), Okinawa Scooters(17% market share), Ampere Electric(14% market share), Ather Energy(11% market share), Bajaj Chetak Electric(4% market share), TVS Electric(2% market share). Most of these companies manufacture both low-speed and high-speed electric scooters. A low-speed electric scooter has a maximum speed of 25 Kmph whereas a high-speed electric scooter has a top speed of 75 Kmph and even more.
Useful Glossary –
- Eco-friendly – a product is said to be eco-friendly if its usage is not harmful to the environment
- Ice age – A period in which the temperature freezes down and most of the area is covered with thick ice and glaciers
- Conventional vehicles – Vehicles that are equipped with engines that are powered by burning fossil fuels
- Gigawatt(GW) – a unit of power equal to one billion watts
- Metric ton – One metric ton equal to 1000 kilograms