The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Electric vehicles have started to pick up in popularity but, of late recharging the car battery has been a bit of an issue for those who have purchased the environment-friendly machine.
There is however inspiring news on that front.
Karsang Dorji an Executive Engineer for Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) has come up with an innovative idea to recharge electric vehicles’ battery.
He said increase in running hours, increases the efficiency of the electric car’s engines. In addition to that the proper design to the existing system of electric vehicle would escalate the conveniences to the vehicle.
“Like that of fuel available in every region for ordinary vehicle this would be possible for electric cars too,” he said.
He said all electrically driven vehicles have limited range of distance and battery performance. It has been experienced that its running hours decreased drastically when it has to ply on rough roads, uphill roads, and muddy roads.
The other problem is if once the battery is drained in an attempt to climb steep slopes or in trying to clear a ditch on uneven road surfaces or muddy terrains, the vehicle is disabled and becomes immobile unless its battery is fully recharged again for normal functions.
The electric vehicles’ original design cannot be changed but it can be re-engineered to increase the efficiency.
After that the electric car would work very similar to fuel driven vehicles with increased efficiency to travel distances. It uses alternate source of power supply from renewable resources to charge the battery but not the fuel.
Karsang Dorji said the advantage with this design is that once the car starts, it discharges depending upon the speed but proportionately the battery gets charged from the alternate power source continuously till the car runs.
Fuel driven vehicles charge their engine using its fuel where as electric vehicle has alternate charging source from Renewable Energy Resources which is available and accessible anywhere without any cost.
The design uses different type of Renewable Energy Resources depending upon the sources. More than one source or in hybrid system can be used to produce energy to function as an alternate power source to charge the battery continuously while driving the car.
A variety of charging current options from 16 to 70 Amps is being used to Charge Electric Vehicle batteries at present, worldwide.
Renewable Energy can substitute normal power supply system as an alternate power sources in office, home and anywhere and can even replace Diesel Generating set. It will save running cost, maintenance cost, man power.
The cost of diesel generator alone can be more than enough to set up equivalent back up power capacity from renewable Energy Resources. Besides that it will help in the energy security of the country and make a positive impact on environmental conservation.
According to a study by th e University of California, Berkeley “Depending on the future price of oil and the relative purchase price of internal combustion engine vehicles, electric cars are predicted to account for 64-86% of new light-vehicle sales by 2030 (in the US)”.
In Bhutan, the percentage could be even higher if the government policy is made more favorable. This requires electric car charging stations in a community.
Did you try to interview Thunder Motors for this story? they’ve been trying to propose to the govt to set up recharging stations all around the country, and also to introduce “battery swapping” to reduce time for charging and increase convenience.
I’m not sure how far their proposal has reached and if the govt has provided any support, as this would help reduce fuel consumption and dependence on imported energy.
as long manufacturer customize the vehicle to benefit the customer it will be popular. But if they are solely profit driven it will not happen. Customer satisfaction should be their aim right now so that people switch over to electric car. And government must get involved constructively. But there is doubt!
Electric Vehicles with Lithium Ion batteries are high performing and better than petrol cars in terms of efficiency and performance. Drivers also benefit from not having to buy petrol and diesel. Electric cars have proven to be 40 times cheaper to operate.
It will be interesting to see what Karsang has invented. What is it? Is it a charger, better battery? There was nothing mentioned in the story. I think more fact checking is required rather than just basing an entire story on fantasies.
Like any innovation, the work has to be dedicated and a labour of love