REVOLO, a hybrid solution, which can be plugged in additionally, has been launched for automobiles. It has been blessed with the capability of bringing down Green House Gas emissions by around 30% and at the same time enhance the fuel efficiency by around 35%, irrespective of the fact whether the vehicles are old or new. This comes at a perfect time when consumers and manufacturers are both feeling the pains of slowdown of the global economy as well as increasing prices of fuel. Hence, it had become necessary to provide a solution to this problem, which has now been made possible by making use of this technology, which helps in assisting the efficiency of the vehicles. KPIT Cummins Info-systems Ltd. has developed this REVOLO technology, which can be a perfect solution to the above problems.
Recognizing the success that REVOLO has been able to achieve, it has been presented with an award for Technological Innovation by Wall Street Journal, under its transportation segment. This is considered to be a significant achievement for the technology provider, KPIT Cummins because it has become the first Indian company to be awarded with such an honor. REVOLO has also previously won a lot of awards from ISA and NASSCOM for having introduced outstanding innovation. The REVOLO technology has been awarded 8 national as well as international awards till date for the outstanding contribution it has made to the auto sector as a unique and excellent technology that has been designed to offer the most needed solutions.
KPIT Cummins is presently negotiating with the Indian government in order to devise ways of increasing REVOLO usage by having it retrofitted to most vehicles running in the country. Other than securing permission for having this technology incorporated into automobiles, the firm is also discussing with the government on the required vehicle regulations that have to be introduced.
ARAI has given the certification that usage of the REVOLO technology results in the increase in mileage of the vehicles. This hybrid solution, which is plugged into vehicles, has resulted in improving driving by greater than 50%, in both cities as well as highways. The cost of maintenance is brought down by this technology and it also increases the life span of the engine. If this technology is made use of commercially, then the breakeven factor is achievable within two years considering the increased mileage that the vehicles generate after incorporating REVOLO. It requires just around 4 to 6 hours for having this technology fitted into vehicles. It has been found to increase the power of the vehicles, thereby making driving easy.
Details about this technology:
- A plug-in system means that the batteries are charged by making use of an external source of energy.
- Since this is a parallel hybrid, hence the motor and the engine operate simultaneously. The automobile is not going to operate only as an EV; on the contrary the vehicle is going to operate only on fuel once the batteries are completely discharged.
- User interruption does not occur as the engine and the motor shares the load.
- Batteries can be charged by regenerative braking with the regeneration being opportunity based. This, in turn, helps in improving the range of the vehicle per unit charge.
- Since the technology has also been equipped with the feature of Stop-Start, the vehicle fuel efficiency gets considerably enhanced particularly in congested traffic conditions.
- A built-in system of intelligence has been provided, which proves useful in identifying the patterns of driving and thereby can adjust automatically to function at optimum efficiency.
- User provided selections can help in altering the performing capability of this technology.
- The solution is battery agnostic and hence can be customized to function with different battery types.
- Even if the vehicles are not provided with Engine Management Systems or electronic engines, the solution can still be used on them.
- Since the system has been provided with a 3-phased induction motor, it helps in lowering the costs of maintenance.
- The system can be assembled as an integrated solution when the vehicle is being manufactured. If that has not been done, it can be retrofitted into the vehicle as a post purchase accessory.
- The solution has already applied for 14 patents internationally till date, in various departments including motor designing, motor mounting, battery management, integrated and control systems.
Mass Emission Testing:
ARAI has been responsible for conducting all testing pertaining to mass emissions. The results of these tests have been able to justify the claim that the REVOLO technology has been able to increase fuel efficiency by more than 35% and has been able to significantly bring down Green House Emission by more than 30%. The method of carbon balance has been used to carry these tests. Cold cycle testing has been carried out on its chassis dynamometer to measure it on the basis of the altered driving cycle in India.
The results of the tests that were carried out on an 800cc hatchback are as given below:
- Improvement in fuel efficiency has been 47%.
- CO2 emission has reduced by 32%.
- NOX emission has come down by 52%.
- CO emission has been brought down by 40%.
- HC emission has decreased by 19%.
Performance Results post implementation of the Hybrid Solution:
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KPIT Cummins has conducted more than 800 trials for this solution till date covering a distance of approximately 50,000km. The successful results that these tests have secured goes to show that REVOLO is going to be able to keep its promise of providing improvement in energy efficiency, comfort, safety along with an enhancement of driving experience.
