Hyderabad(Telangana): Fuel prices in the country are rising day by day, affecting the general public. Owners are refusing to take out their vehicles and the condition of the autos is becoming more miserable. Despite plying all day, they are barely making any money. In this context, the discovery made by two youngsters is bound to put a smile on the faces of auto drivers.
The said duo-Arun and Gautam-have a start-up company and keeping in mind the petrol price hike they have created swapping batteries called RACEnergy. Not just batteries, the company undertakes retrofitting to convert diesel, LPG, and CNG-powered three-wheelers into electric autos. The duo have already retrofitted about one hundred autos in Hyderabad and are continuing it as a pilot project. They said that they are preparing to set up more swapping centers in different parts of the city.
The idea of swapping batteries occurred to the duo in 2018. Since then, they have been researching for about three years. They made several trials to manufacture batteries that suited the weather conditions of the city. They launched their ambitious startup called RACEnergy in 2021, after thoroughly considering battery backup and other factors. RACEnergy is one of the first AIS 156 safety-certified companies in India.
At present, RACEnergy retrofits about 5 to 10 autos a month. The company is looking to make retrofitting available for about 6,000 autos within a year’s time. Retrofitting eliminates maintenance costs and the need to change oil and repair gears. Auto drivers can save up to Rs 300 per day using retrofitting, observed Arun and Gautam.
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There are a total of 10 lakh autos in Telugu states. By retrofitting these autos, air pollution can be controlled to a great extent. RACEnergy charges Rs 65,000 per auto. Auto drivers can pay Rs 10,000 as a down payment and the rest in the form of EMI. Auto drivers claimed that swapping batteries for retrofitted autos only takes 2 to 3 minutes that they can swap batteries on the go, not to mention that there will be no maintenance cost for retrofitted autos.
The company RACEnergy plans to expand its operations to major locations such as Warangal, Karimnagar, and Mahabubnagar. Gautam said that "they will set up 100 swapping centers in Tirupati alone by the end of this year. They were working towards manufacturing their own electric autos besides continuing to swap solutions for three-wheelers."
Arun, CEO of RACEnergy "Gautam and I have been working for about 15 years. At the age of 16, we made a race car in BITS PILANI. Since then we made nearly 6 race cars and put in racing in Europe. After the completion of college on the city roads, we did not find electric vehicles. we would like to implement EV technology in autos."
" In 2018 we started developing and testing on a number of autos with loading for three years. After it was successful we launched it in the Telugu states. In the future, we will implement in Cargo and two-wheelers. In Hyderabad, we arranged nearly 15 swapping stations and are planning to arrange about 100 stations in a month. With Retrofitting kits auto drivers can save money. Now auto drivers are coming to our stations instead of petrol pumps," Arun added.
