Budding IIT-Bombay students reveal their first electric race car

Most college students believe that graduating with honours is a high milestone. But how does that match up with building a race car that runs purely on electricity? A team of students from IIT-Bombay racing team did just that as they unveiled their first electric racing car, the EVo1.

The EVo1 race car – designed and developed by over 60 students from various disciplines, including mechanical, electrical and energy science – was revealed in company of Prof. Rangan Banerjee, dean of research and development at IIT-Bombay as well as the sponsors like Mahindra and other brands. 

As for the future development, the team has already begun work on EVo2, the 2013 edition of the existing car with enhanced features; chiefly amongst which will be the use of two electric motors working separately unlike the existing car where both the motors are coupled with each other mechanically and run. Students claim that the upcoming EVo2 will be a much better race car featuring more in terms of overall grip and performance. 

Prateek Sharma, one of the project managers of EVo1, said, "In EVo1, two motors are coupled with each other mechanically and used. The technology used in this version is mechanical differential. But we are planning to use the two motors independently in the next version. The technology used there will be of electronic differential. This will give more grip and also increase the performance by reducing the time taken to cover each lap during the race."