Development and Testing of Electric Microcar for Indian Cities

Population growth, rapid urbanisation and compounding effects of adding personal vehicles have resulted in increasing the urban air pollution in major Indian cities. Apart from the rising concerns about the urban air pollution, the increasing traffic and lack of parking space difficulties are promoting energy efficient small vehicles. Hence, there is a need to develop a new environmental friendly microcar that relatively affordable and easily manoeuvrable in bigger cities. Electric microcar is one of the most promising options to improve the near term sustainability for personal transportation in cities. This paper mainly presents the development of two seater electric microcar suitable for city driving requirements followed by road test. A mathematical modelling with reference to the urban cycle (Part-one) of modified Indian driving cycle (MIDC) is also carried out for the evaluation of energy and power requirements of electric microcar. The developed electric microcar has been tested on road with the help of the MIDC simulator kit. Results revealed that the developed prototype has demonstrated about 50 km range after one full charge.