Pranav Dandekar (44) confronted a refrain of recommendation from his pals to forgo his bold plan of establishing an electrical micro-car in favour of a more effective two-wheeler or three-wheeler. They argued that those digital car possible choices had been extra common, more uncomplicated to construct, and higher suited to the present marketplace calls for.
But, Pranav stood his flooring, resolute in his pursuit regardless of the intensive laws for EV automobiles in India, together with the will for a brand new riding license and unending trials.
“Other folks frequently suppose that creating new EVs will have to be easy, however it virtually by no means works out completely at the first check out,” explains Pranav, who up to now labored as a instrument engineer at Amazon. He insists that an engineer’s method is the most important, bearing in mind components such because the car’s weight, sturdiness, and the way successfully it may be assembled.
For Pranav, the enjoyment is located within the ongoing adventure and the more than one iterations alongside the best way.
Whilst lounging of their Indore courtyard, his father organized two armchairs in a row and mentioned, “That is precisely how compact I would like the automobile to be.” Prakash Dandekar’s thought was once for a car comparable to an 1800s buggy — easy and comfortable, absolute best for taking part in a leisurely journey with the wind for your face. Pranav, on the other hand, had a special thought. He most well-liked a sturdier vehicle fitted to lengthy distances. “I knew it might be a tricky venture, so I attempted to speak him out of it,” Prakash laughs.
This resulted in the advent of ‘Robin’, their first electrical micro-car — a two-seater EV that Pranav and Prakash declare can be as agile as a motorcycle. The car is about to be introduced subsequent yr by way of Wings EV, their startup based totally in Indore.
With 46 years of enjoy in electric engineering, Prakash had lengthy been passionate about developing an EV. “We used to comic story that we needed to create an electrical car designed fully by way of electric engineers, for the reason that maximum EV corporations in India design their automobiles thru mechanical and automobile engineers,” he remembers.
The daddy-son group has now effectively became that concept right into a fact.
Throughout a talk over with to his son in america, the place Pranav have been based totally for 17 years, Prakash and Pranav mentioned how EVs might be followed in India. They debated whether or not to retrofit current automobiles with electrical motors or design fully new ones.
To discover this, they bought a tricycle from Walmart and reworked it into an electrical fashion with a hub motor, battery, and microcontroller that allowed the rider to talk whilst in movement. Prakash idea this electrical tricycle can be best for navigating India’s crowded streets as an alternative of the use of a cumbersome vehicle. “We joked that with a roof, our tricycle can be like an auto rickshaw,” Pranav chuckles. Then again, Pranav felt a four-wheeler electrical vehicle may well be a extra thrilling possibility.
Within the early phases, Pranav and Prakash experimented by way of drawing rectangles of various sizes at the flooring to search out the best dimensions for his or her vehicle. Robin began as a easy prototype — a two-seater with 4 wheels and no frame — for which Prakash created a instrument program.
They then had other drivers check the car, having them force in circles to verify the car’s viability. The prototype sooner or later handed the rigorous assessments of the Car Analysis Affiliation of India (ARAI), and Prakash beamed with pleasure as the automobile’s spectacular efficiency stuck the examiners off guard.
When Pranav and Prakash began their vehicle design procedure in 2018, they used cardboard cutouts to construct a coarse prototype and invited folks to check it. They requested for comments on the way it felt, what options they anticipated, and any considerations they’d. This enter was once instrumental in shaping the general design. Over the following 5 years, they carried out a large number of surveys with execs in quite a lot of towns to spot their target market.
Pranav believes their method units them aside from conventional vehicle corporations who usually view automobiles as both two-wheelers or four-wheelers. “For customers, the concern is environment friendly and fast transportation, no longer car kind,” he says.
As they labored on Robin, Pranav prioritised designing it with the footprint of a two-wheeler. “Dad and I insisted that if shall we stay it inside the measurement of a motorcycle, it might be flexible sufficient to get admission to any space the place motorbikes are allowed and parked,” Pranav notes. “This center of attention on measurement made Robin extremely helpful but in addition very difficult to construct.”
“Robin is roughly part the scale of the Tata Nano, which many Indians already seen as rather small,” Prakash says. Regardless of the automobile’s small dimensions, the father-son duo effectively included all very important options, together with seat belts, steerage, brakes, headlamps, hind lights, or even an air-con gadget. Prakash provides that the AC was once added in particular for buyer convenience, despite the fact that it’s strange to search out such an amenity in a vehicle as small as Robin.
The daddy-son group now gives check drives in six towns, and whilst individuals are to start with enthusiastic, in addition they have reservations about electrical automobiles. “Their considerations fade away once they start riding,” Prakash stocks. They based totally the automobile’s design on Prakash’s measurement — he’s over 6 toes tall and weighs 110 kg. “If Dad is relaxed, then someone will have to be too,” Pranav believes.
Of their surveys, Pranav and Prakash discovered that many individuals both didn’t know the way to force or had stopped riding. Some had been involved that Robin may really feel too cramped or volatile. “But, inside of 5 mins of riding, maximum customers temporarily adjusted and felt very relaxed,” Pranav stocks. The automobile’s computerized options do away with the will for clutches, and the power to sit down proper in the course of the automobile gives customers transparent visibility in all 3 instructions, serving to them really feel extra protected.
Those that in most cases keep away from massive automobiles on slender streets discovered Robin’s measurement absolute best for higher regulate and protection. “Customers felt it was once like driving a motorcycle however a lot more secure,” Pranav explains.
‘Our objective was once to create a non-public mobility car’
Prakash, an avid driving force, frequently discovered himself by myself in his vehicle. “Riding my Wagon R, it pissed off me that, regardless of it being a five-seater, it was once at all times simply me within the vehicle. I couldn’t forget about the emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide; it felt virtually legal,” he reminisces. He believed {that a} smaller vehicle would utilise assets higher.
As the previous head of Laptop Methods at Tata Motors, Prakash frequently mentioned smaller electrical automobiles however confronted scepticism from friends who felt such automobiles will require too many assets and wouldn’t promote. “Automakers usually aren’t fascinated by making smaller automobiles,” Prakash notes. Maximum automobiles available on the market cater to households of 4 or 5, leaving a distinct segment for compact automobiles like Robin, best for solo or duo use, corresponding to grocery buying groceries or selecting up a kid from college.
“Our objective was once to create a non-public mobility car,” Pranav explains, noting that they intentionally selected to not design a circle of relatives vehicle. Prakash, drawing from his enjoy at Tata Motors, realized that smaller, extra reasonably priced circle of relatives automobiles frequently didn’t be triumphant out there. “I noticed how poorly the Tata Nano carried out,” he remembers. As a substitute, Prakash perspectives Robin no longer as a compact circle of relatives vehicle, however as an enhanced selection to a two-wheeler. “Regardless that it’s a two-seater, it’s in point of fact designed for a unmarried individual to navigate town successfully and with ease,” Pranav provides.
“Maximum day by day commuters shuttle simply tens of kilometres, no longer loads, so a smaller, compact vehicle can be a lot more sensible for them,” Prakash explains. He notes that whilst many places of work battle with restricted parking for four-wheelers, there’s in most cases plentiful room for two-wheelers. “Our purpose is to give you the convenience of a four-wheeler whilst permitting customers to park in two-wheeler areas,” he provides. The price of riding a regular four-wheeler is round Rs 10-12 in step with kilometre, however with Robin, it drops to simply Rs 1 to two in step with kilometre.
Robin is particularly fitted to older folks and ladies who won’t really feel assured on two-wheelers. Prakash stocks that during check drives carried out around the nation, “virtually each and every lady has reported feeling each liberated and excited.” It’s because the automobile lets them shuttle independently with no need the help of husbands or drivers, he explains.
Dinesh Keerthy, who took Robin for a check force previous this yr, has been wishing for a car love it. “Robin is as small as my Royal Enfield motorbike, which is absolute best for dealing with Bangalore’s site visitors. Its graceful and classy design is an added bonus,” he remarks.
Praveen Vadavi, an enthusiastic biker and automobile engineer, has the same opinion with Dinesh, labelling Robin because the “want of the hour” for metropolitan spaces due to its convenience and velocity.
Srikanth, who drives a Tata Nexon EV — considered certainly one of India’s most sensible electrical automobiles — is thinking about Robin for his spouse. “It’s on par with Nexon EV and is perfect for households having a look to verify their kid’s protection,” he explains.
Bargava Subramanian was once left shocked after you have at the back of the wheel of the two-seater electrical vehicle. “Robin stands proud and is for sure developing a brand new class within the Indian marketplace,” he remarks. “This vehicle will redefine our thought of mobility.”
Growing an electrical car from scratch
Two-seater automobiles haven’t won traction in India as they’ve in Europe or China. Pranav explains that traditionally, India’s decrease financial standing supposed that consumers most well-liked automobiles with 4 seats, viewing them as extra legit. There have additionally been considerations about battery differ and charging amenities. But, with the development of electrical car generation, together with top of the range motors and sensors, client self assurance in EVs is rising.
Developing an electrical car from scratch was once no small feat. “The toughest problem was once discovering producers who may just create portions for an electrical vehicle like ours,” Prakash finds. A notable instance is Robin’s central steerage wheel, which contrasts with the normal left or proper placement present in maximum automobiles.
Prakash, who manages all mechanical and electric purposes of the automobile, has provided it with a drive-by-wire powertrain — a generation very similar to fly-by-wire methods utilized in trendy plane. Via this setup, driving force inputs are relayed to a pc, which then communicates with the automobile’s motor controller.
As a result of Robin couldn’t accommodate a traditional differential equipment, its rear wheels are provided with hub motors — a characteristic recurrently utilized in scooters and small automobiles. Prakash tackled the problem of velocity legislation right through turns the use of digital differential generation and ensured its protection by way of having race vehicle drivers push the car to its limits in checking out.
Finding compact headlamps, which might be licensed for two-wheelers however no longer usually for four-wheelers, was once additionally a problem. The actual problem, on the other hand, was once making a battery gadget that customers may just arrange on their very own, as uploading a battery gadget from some other nation was once no longer possible because of conceivable restore problems.
“Not one of the corporations had been prepared to construct a battery control gadget for us,” Prakash stocks. “They informed us that with out a vital order, they couldn’t accommodate our wishes.” This example brought about the duo to transform their very own battery producers.
Development a whole car diagnostic framework
Moreover, they’ve created a sophisticated pc community that regularly transfers and retail outlets all car knowledge at the cloud. This community screens sides, corresponding to motor temperature and GPS coordinates, at the side of a complete diagnostic gadget that provides real-time insights into the well being of every car.
The diagnostic gadget lets them pinpoint issues in any vehicle successfully. “Call to mind it as having an individual attached to an ECG and center fee observe always,” Pranav describes. The gadget gathers real-time knowledge, processes it thru an AI fashion, and detects anomalies like an overheated battery. “Such knowledge research supplies a clearer image of auto well being than any driving force’s subjective enter,” notes Prakash.
What occurs if one thing is going fallacious with the automobile? Can an bizarre mechanic repair it? “Possibly, a typical mechanic would make issues worse,” Pranav explains. Robin options distinctive portions that aren’t simply repairable or replaceable with standard equipment. Its very important parts — sensors, instrument, batteries, and motors — are specialized and no longer usually identified to moderate mechanics. “Our diagnostic gadget addresses this by way of detecting problems early and permitting us to accomplish predictive upkeep or updates earlier than the person even notices an issue,” Prakash notes.
Robin will come provided with an app designed to stay customers knowledgeable about their vehicle’s well being and upkeep. This app will ship real-time updates on car efficiency and be offering guidelines for higher use. The duo may be making plans to arrange cellular after-sales provider devices in more than one towns to accomplish inspections following the automobile’s release. With car knowledge saved within the cloud, technicians may have a head get started in diagnosing problems, making the provider procedure extra environment friendly and no more reliant on troubleshooting.
“Robin has effectively handed ARAI Pune’s protection assessments, so it’s more secure than present two or three-wheelers,” states Pranav. “We’re aiming to promote 3,000 devices within the first yr, despite the fact that our Indore plant can produce 10,000 devices every yr.”
Its lineup contains 3 variants — a elementary model and not using a AC and a 65 km differ priced at Rs 2 lakh; a mid-range possibility with a fan and a 90 km differ for Rs 2.5 lakh; and a top class model providing a 90 km differ, AC, and patented audio signals for enhanced protection at Rs 3 lakh.
Pranav and Prakash are actively undertaking check drives national to amplify their succeed in. Consistent with Pranav, there’s little need for competitive advertising, as a result of “the software of Robin turns into transparent to folks once they see its pictures and movies.”
“Growing a wholly new class of auto isn’t one thing you get to do each day,” Pranav remarks. “If Robin effectively merges some great benefits of each two-wheelers and four-wheelers, it might be an attractive neat contribution to make. I additionally hope it encourages others to construct cutting edge automobiles of their very own.”
“We’ve put our heads down and labored at this for over 5 years. It’s gratifying to look that our efforts have led to one thing that individuals in reality need and respect,” he provides.
Edited by way of Pranita Bhat; Photographs Courtesy Pranav Dandekar