Tirupati: If everything goes as planned, India could have batteries that could rival those made by Tesla and could power even a minibus.
Scientists at a Hyderabad-based metallurgy institute are working on developing a super-capacitor battery to run bicycles. The project is in the advanced stage. If it is successful, this could allow us to run the metro rail with the help of batteries in future.
International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), which is working on the project, has already applied for a patent for the material that it has developed for manufacturing higher capacity supercapacitor.
The project plays a key role in the development of alternative energy sources in the automotive sector as governments look to contain global warming caused by buring of fossil fuels.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 104th Indian Science Congress on Wednesday here, ARCI associate director Dr Tata Narsinga Rao said, “Supercapacitor battery run bicycle has crossed the state of the proof concept. We will demonstrate it in a year at the ARCI campus. This bicycle can be operated for two to five kilometers without charging. The same technology will be used to make supercapacitor battery to run minibuses in next five years. We need to have electric charging stations for five km at least so that the minibus battery can be charged quickly while passengers board the bus. We have developed the technology and it is up to the industry to use it.”
A bicycle needs 48 volt and 6 to 10 amps-hour. China has already developed a battery bus that charges in 10 seconds. The US-based Tesla Motors is also planning to build batteries to run heavy-duty trucks.
Scientists at ARCI made a supercapacitor of 10 F capacity using indigenously available materials. “A carbon material with moderate surface has been used to establish the process of electrode making,” an ARCI scientist explained.
“Long duration tests as well as further improvement in design are under progress. CFCT has a staple of several materials which will be used in the coming months to build high capacity super-capacitors,” he said.
He said all the smart cities that are coming up can have these supercapacitor-battery run buses. India has been depending on imports of li-ion batteries to be used in mo-biles and e-automobiles.
