Gujarat college students build hybrid bike that could bring down your fuel cost; details here

According to the students, the fully-charged vehicle can help to run up to 40 km per hour by using one unit of power for 17 paise.

Electric vehicles are the new future of mobility, and trends confirmed it. With fuel rates skyrocketing, most citizens are wary of bringing their vehicles out onto the roads. 

Here's a solution offered by students of VVP Engineering College in Gujarat's Rajkot.

The students have developed a motorbike that would run on both petrol and electricity. 

To shift from petrol to electric battery or vice versa, the driver has to simply toggle a switch on the handlebar. According to the students, the fully-charged vehicle can help to run up to 40 km per hour by using one unit of power for 17 paise.

During a media interaction, Dr Maniar, Dean, Mechanical Department, said, "The main reason for developing this is that fuel prices are skyrocketing. There are many issues with 20-vehicles like a high price, slow charging, etc. So we thought of a vehicle that can run on both."

"The students have attached four separate batteries. The battery takes six hours to completely charge and can run with a maximum speed of 40 kilometres per hour," added Dr Maniar.

Currently, there are a number of manufacturers present in the electric two-wheeler space, including TVS, Hero and Revolt, but none of them offers vehicles with hybrid configurations.

In similar news, a class 10 student from Karnataka's Belgaum district created an electric bike all by himself during the pandemic. The vehicle can cover a distance of 40 kilometres on a single charge.

Last month, the Gujarat government formulated a new policy to accelerate electric vehicle uptake in the state. 

The Gujarat Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 provides for a subsidy of up to Rs 20,000 on EVs in the two-wheeler category, Rs 50,000 for three-wheelers, and up to Rs 1.5 lakh for cars.