Founders Ranjan Rout & Sachin pitching prototype-stage Verge Motors – that is building a plug-in hybrid electric scooter for India, that runs on electricity or petrol alone switching from one to the other through a flick of the switch. Startup claims that working prototype delivers 100 km for 1 liter of fuel.
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxtY1LfCCBI
“We started with the idea of creating the next generation vehicles in 2015, because the automotive industry had not seen any significant change in performance, mileage or connectivity,” says Ranjan.
“So we started working with electric and hybrid powertrains for two wheelers since India is the largest two-wheeler market in the world. We made simulations of electric powertrains and hybrid powertrain in CATIA (Design Software) in 2015. We analyzed all the layouts of the hybrid powertrains in global market and made a 3D model of a planetary gear hybrid powertrain. We thought if we scale down the transmission components present in hybrid electric cars, we’ll end up with a transmission for a scooter. But when we went to a manufacturer in Peenya, Bangalore to manufacture the transmission, the estimated weight of the entire gearset was like that of the engine.So, we went back to the drawing board and started designing a setup that would fit into a two-wheeler without compromising the performance of the scooter. In mid-2016, we got some grants from our college to make the vehicle, so we bought a conventional scooter and started tinkering with the existing powertrain and bought all other necessary components for the “electrification” of the scooter. We addressed all the feasibility issues one by one and in Oct 2016, we were adding components from electric auto rickshaws, electric cars and petrol cars in a scooter.
We spent months in the factory where we designed and manufactured custom parts for the scooter. Finally, in Jan 2017 we had the working prototype ready. After the first test ride we were all blown away by the results, we did several static and dynamic tests on the vehicle. After the validation of the working prototype we decided to form a company that’ll design, manufacture and sell these awesome vehicles so that everyone can have one in their garage.”
Founders:
Saumya Ranjan, CEO
B.E. (Mechanical Engineering)
NMIT Bangalore
2 yrs. experience in hybrid and electric vehicles
Sachin Angadi, CTO
B.E. (Electrical Engineering)
NMIT Bangalore
2 yrs. experience in electric and solar vehicles
