Fledgeling of a New Species - Hot Hybrid

Fledge: become capable of flight: to become capable of flight and leave the nest (refers to young birds)
Source: MSN Encarta

Story and Photography: Vikram Gour

Yea, it's ready to fly. The Fledge, a hybrid car built by seven young Students from the Delhi College of Engineering may very soon find its share of sky to spread its wings. The young students have taken up this project to compete in the Tour de Sol, an Alternative Fuel Vehicle design contest, organised by NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association), Department of Energy, USA, at New Jersey and New York. It is the first time that any team from the Asia Pacific Region would be participating in this event which attracts not only other leading universities but car manufacturers as well.

The Fledge is a fully functional petrol-electric hybrid single seater built by the DCE students. Being a concept the costs involved were to the tune of around Rupees 6.5 lakh. If this vehicle is to go into production, the costs can come down to around Rs 1lakh per vehicle.

The body is done up in a fine green and designed by AGM Technologies. Fitted with a 346 cc single cylinder petrol engine borrowed from the Royal Enfield Bullet, which churns out 18bhp and is mated to a Maruti Omni 4 speed gear box, the Fledge is capable of speeds close to 70 kilometers per hour. In electric mode, the Fledge is powered by a 3.5 HP permanent magnet DC brush motor running on 8 lead acid batteries connected in series, which manage to propel

Centrally positioned steering column and dash - McLaren F1 style

DCE guys have managed to pull-off a sporty rump along with a snazzy nose

The team and the professors - we wish them all the luck for the contest

the vehicle up to about 50km/h with reasonable ease. In electric mode there is no need to change gears and when you switch from petrol to electric, the Fledge disables the gearbox. The electric motor is connected to the driving shaft after the gearbox, by the means of a single reduction gear. Whenever the car is in the neutral gear, the motor will be capable of driving the car and the engine can remain completely switched off.

The Fledge is fitted with a 15litre petrol tank and 8 lead-acid batteries. Returning a mileage of around 28kmpl on petrol and going 117 kilometers on a single charge, the vehicle is capable of travelling a distance of around 537 kilometers without having to refuel or recharge. The boys at DCE decided that there will not be any regenerative charging and the car will have to be manually switched from petrol mode to electric mode so as to keep the machine simple.

The Fledge weighs at around 760 kilograms (inclusive of the driver). To put that into perspective a Maruti 800 weighs about 700 kilograms with a driver and gives you a respectable overall mileage of around 20 kilometers to the litre, but the fledge manages to give you a mileage of close to 27.7 kilometers per litre. This efficiency gives the students the necessary amount of range to compete in the Tour de Sol where they have to cover a distance of over 250 miles!

To commandeer this vehicle, the students have kept the seat in the middle and it is quite comfortable. You sit pretty high up as the drivetrain runs right under you. The feeling is quite similar to sitting on a quad bike, except you have a steering wheel to hold on to. Getting in the vehicle can be a bit hard, as you have to reach quite far across to get your left leg over the seat onto the other side. The Fledge comes fitted with disk brakes up front and drum brakes at the rear. It rides on 13 inch tyres and has a 140mm ground clearance. The suspension setup is a McPherson strut and coil spring suspension up front and leaf springs at the rear. It is very stiff and the vehicle tends to bounce when driven on a bumpy road. Although this can be initially unnerving, you get used to it.

It is very important to understand that this was a very ambitious project that the DCE students undertook considering the meager resources available to them. What kept them going, however, was the fire inside their own belly and the support provided by Mahindra, AGM and their professors. I feel that these students have already cleared the real test with flying colors. If success is the fruit of labour then these students are well on their way. Go Fledge!