Reflections from national EV projects
Ozone has been a great concern for environmentalists over the past few decades that resulted in the enactment of Montreal protocol lately in the late 1980s.
It was the first of several comprehensive international agreements enacted to halt the production and use of ozone-depleting chemicals. As a result of continued international cooperation on this issue, the ozone layer is expected to recover over time.
Generation of renewable energy is the talk of the town in this millennia, that impacts the environment positively in one way or another. Electrical Energy is one of the major contributors to greener globe and the swift adoption is seen in the EV Industry, when it comes to “Walking the Talk”
Even though the EV industry is experiencing significant global advancements, some smaller scale research is also occurring at the national level.
The result of which is a recently launched “Burraq” a 15 seater passenger cart designed to carry approx. 1050 kgs. The prototype is delivered to Pakistan Army for Intercity logistics. They will primarily use it for passenger pick and drop.
It contains a 3-cylinder engine vehicle modified by Chassis extension to create space for the application and smartly engineering it forward to remove engine and transmission box, and alternatively equipping a battery pack with Mode change option. Three modes are possible that serves as a replacement to gear.
The required maximum speed by Pak Army was 35 km/hr. and keeping in view the speed and payload requirement, the load calculation is rated at 5 KW. Hence 5 KW motor is used and 100 AH battery is incorporated into the system. The battery once charged could run 70 kms before needing to be recharged. It is a Li Ion battery with a smart Battery management system that serves as a black box of vehicle and could easily be read out on a mobile phone. A snapshot shows the kind of data that could be read out.
“The Li ion” Battery has been used by, that has been supplied by local assemblers in Pakistan. They provide running warranty for their battery for about 24 months.
“A Lithium battery is defined as a rechargeable battery that utilizes Lithium ions moving between electrodes during charging and discharging processes. Due to higher energy density and long cycle life, it finds its application in consumer electronics mostly.
There are certain benefits to using Lithium batteries, to name a few:
- 40% more backup than lead acid battery because the DOD is 99%
- Light weight and compact
- Longer shelf life
- Better thermal tolerance
- Maintenance free
- Energy Density=2x Standard (Ni-Cadmium) battery
You might have experienced excessive stress in inclining up the vehicle while climbing bridge at their maximum acute angles. While modification of the 3-cylinder engine this was a major challenge for Burraq passenger cart as well.
Hence an endurance test was carried out while vehicle was laden with passengers and it easily went up on an inclined plane of 25-degree acute angle that make it safer for travelling on the bridges whose angles are not generally > 19 degrees.
Though these projects have yet not reached mass production stage, still the successful prototyping calls for itself a major milestone, especially in the nations like us where “Reverse Engineering” is the most evident practice in technology adoption.