Nineteeen-year-old KM Vishall Somaiya, a resident of Teacher’s Colony that is adjacent to HSR Sector 5, is a mechanical engineering student of New Horizon College of Engineering in Marathahalli. He and his friends from different disciplines like automobile and electrical engineering have built an energy-efficient solar vehicle for an international contest by Shell. They are one among the four participants from Bangalore who are shortlisted for the competition in the second week of December called Shell Eco-Marathon in Chennai.
Vishall is in the front row and third from right
Not only will Vishall’s work be displayed but also tested for its real-world capability at this contest whose goal is to reward energy-efficient vehicles that are indigenously made. His Team Akruth is one of the 18 taking part from across India.
So what is the USP of the vehicle designed by Vishall and Co.? “It’s eco-friendly and a highly economical three-wheeled electric car,” Vishall tells Residents Watch. “Our first priority is safety and efficiency, which is why we have a steel structure with impact resistant material and yet the vehicle is light-weight.”
The other highlights of the team’s vehicle include a tear drop shape for least air resistance while driving, sensors for fault detections, solar panels for additional battery life and performance, and regenerative breaking for low power consumption, among others.
“We focussed on efficiency on road and achieving more mileage than speed,” says Vishall. It’s a single seater that is highly economical and comfortable. The others in Vishall’s team include Faisal, Shashank, San, Nishant, Tejas, Anmol, Aashish, Pranav, Sudarshan and Rakesh (lecturer & team lead). “We custom designed our own battery controller and battery management system,” says Vishall. “The prototype cost us nearly Rs 1 lakh to make. if it were to be mass produced with high carbon fibre, it would cost around Rs 6-7 lakh.”