What is EV retrofitting or EV Conversion Kit, it’s Advantages and Disadvantages.
India is heading towards cleaner transportation with the growth in electric mobility. The Indian government has started new policy frameworks to promote electric vehicles or the EV, with some R&D efforts towards developing EV components. They are thinking for procurement of new electric fleets. Now the question is what happens to the many old and existing ICE vehicles?
And this is where the important topic of retrofitting electric vehicles comes in. Electronic Vehicles retrofitting means to convert existing petrol or diesel run vehicles into an electric vehicle. The government has suggested and allowed EV conversion kit or the retrofitting of old vehicles into hybrid electric vehicles. It can be done in two ways- either you can retrofit your car by yourself by ordering its retrofit conversion kit or you can choose any shop and give your car to them for this purpose.
However, if you have decided to Retrofit your car by yourself, then you have several options. Either you can order a retrofit conversion kit from one of the companies or online, bundled with all the necessary equipment, and shipped to you.
Or you can just choose to ditch the online shop for all the parts and get them to work yourself. It all depends on your wish and the purpose of the project.
EV Conversion kit
- Motor
- Controller
- Shunt
- Transmission adapter kit
- Charger
- Chill plate
- DC/DC converter
- Throttle controller
- Controller mount
Advantages of electric car conversion
There are many advantages of retrofitting your car into EV. These are-
- Rather than filling up at the gas station, you will be able to plug in your car.
- Your carbon footprint will be significantly reduced.
- The conversion project is usually relatively easy for someone with some mechanical skill.
- Finally, you will be able to make use of a “donor vehicle” – a car or small truck that may not be running, but is in otherwise good shape.
- An average electric car conversion can run less than INR 4,00,000 and could easily save you money in the long term.
- You can keep the vehicles running after retrofitting them with EV kits after 10-15 years also, whereas diesel and petrol vehicle are not allowed.
Disadvantages of electric car conversion
Apart from advantages of electronic vehicles, there are some disadvantages also, and these are as follows:
- An electric car conversion is not necessarily the end-all-be-all of transportation solutions, however.
- Converted electric cars can be more difficult to repair, and if you do not have a mechanic familiar with converted electric vehicles, maintenance could be difficult.
- Converted electric vehicles will also require battery replacements every few years, which is an additional maintenance cost many people do not think about.
- Finally, converted electric vehicles cannot usually go more than about 200 miles without a charge.
- For commuting, this isn’t an issue, but for long trips, you might be better off renting a gas-powered car for the trip.
