Electric car gives power back

Electric car gives power back

It took over two years in research and development, and finally the latest commercial electric car, which was designed and developed locally, has come out with a lighter weight and a new braking system that can return energy to the battery.

Published on November 6, 2007

Cario Bravo, as it is to be named, is the latest electric car developed by TS Vehicle Tech, a subsidiary of auto-parts manufacturer Thai Summit. As the company hoped to make a car to save energy and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, it has spent around Bt40 million with 40 engineers on research into innovative technology to make the car energy efficient.

TS Vehicle Tech's vice president Sakulthorn Juangroongruankit said the company had designed the latest vehicle to have 25 per cent less weight than its predecessor and it also came with a new braking system that could return energy to the battery.

The new regenerative braking system is important to give the electric car a longer battery life. The system is designed to allow the vehicle to collect energy while braking. Energy which comes from the moving wheels is sent back to the battery for further use and this gives the car more stored power every time the brakes are applied.

To make the car safer while driving, the new braking system also brakes automatically when going downhill. Once the vehicle is on a slope, it slows down by itself, Sakulthron added.

As energy is a major concern when it comes to developing an electric car, the company designed every part of the vehicle to save energy. It also worked with the Engineering Faculty at Chulalongkorn University to design a new chassis, called aluminum box-beam, to reduce weight in the vehicle's structure.

With this new chassis, the company reduced the vehicle's total weight from the previous 260 kilograms to only 230 kilograms.

Designed and developed totally by Thai engineers, the Cario Bravo project also received support from the National Innovation Agency (NIA) under the Good Innovation with No Interest programme.

With Bt17 million in loans during the next three years, NIA will shoulder Bt1.5 million of interest for the company.

The agency also provided support with technology transfer for the project. NIA's project manager Pantapong Tangteerasunun said the agency also brought German experts from Senior Expertant Service, an organisation providing senior experts to help the private sector with technology transfer, to develop the Cario Bravo.

Innovation on the Cario Bravo comprised three elements - design, brand and technology development. NIA predicts that with this project, it will boost investment within the country by around Bt80 million to Bt100 million.

The manufacturer of Cario Bravo also plans to export the electric car, expecting that in the next five years it will export around 10,000 vehicles a year.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation