City boy assembles electric cart for his school

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 8

City boy Abhisaar Chetan Sudhakar has designed and assembled an electric cart, utilising his free time during the Covid-induced lockdown.

As a Class XII student of The Doon School, he has seen parents and grandparents walking long distances on the school campus to meet their wards. This was the reason he came up with an idea of a golf cart.

Being a science student, he has always enjoyed mechanics and the idea of practising his passion sustainably was something he was really excited about.

"I had done initial research on developing a hydrogen-powered vehicle for my school community. However, considering potential risks associated with hydrogen as a fuel made me drop the idea. Electric vehicle industry is an upcoming market, which motivated me to instead make an electric powered vehicle as this too would belong to the sustainable category,” said Sudhakar.

He got the idea of the electric vehicle approved from the school and the funding was also ready. However, the school closed down a few days later due to Covid.

“I still wanted to work on the project and restarted my research in my hometown to find spare parts. I found parts from a Maruti 800 car and borrowed an auto-rickshaw\B \Bbody as welding the whole body was not easy for me. I took training on welding and grinding in a factory after which I assembled my own electric vehicle at home. The entire process was carried out at home, except the paint process for which it went to another factory,” he shared.

Sudhakar is really excited about the project and now, the cart has been taken to his school. “I live on a 70-acre campus in Dehradun and this is what had motivated me to develop a fully functional vehicle for the school. Students' parents and grandparents often visit the school and, hence, it can be used as a transportation tool for them on the premises. Not only for visitors, but it can also be used in case of an emergency. My project can be of great value to my alma mater,” he said.

Sharing his future plans, he said he plans to further enhance his vehicle by powering it with solar panels which would reduce its running cost and make it completely sustainable with no dependence.

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