Team-BHP - E-trio plans to launch retrofitted electric Alto & Wagon-R

Retrofitted all-Electric Maruti Suzuki Alto, Wagon R gets ARAI approval: Telangana Startup’s innovation.

E-trio plans to launch retrofitted electric Alto & Wagon-R-1.jpg

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Electric Maruti Suzuki Alto and Wagon R developed by the company gets an electric motor that does not require any gear. The ARAI approved electric cars (electric Alto and electric Wagon R) can travel up to 150 km on a single charge confirmed E-trio

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Telangana based start-up, E-trio is now ready to launch retrofitted electric in India. E-trie is India first company to have successfully gotten approval from Govt run Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). E-trio will first launch this on the electric Maruti Suzuki Alto and Wagon R.

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E-trio says it will enter the Indian market with a capacity of 1000 cars per month to be fitted with an electric motor and battery kit. These retrofitted electric kits have been sourced from China and Korea while the Controller is built by the company in-house. The company has been testing cars for the past two years and their immediate goal is to roll out at least 5000 cars in the next year

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Originally Posted by volkman10 (Post 4493093)

Retrofitted all-Electric Maruti Suzuki Alto, Wagon R gets ARAI approval: Telangana Startup’s innovation.

Nice! Have a question though, who will service these cars? Maruti or E-Trio? Not sure if Maruti service centers will take kindly to missing engines/parts in the cars. :D

Best wishes to the start-up! :thumbs up

Its great to see innovation in the EV space. Would be grateful to Hyderabad bhpians if they can gather some more info on the product on offer like pricing, type of battery used, warranty, servicing details etc. Also, do they give retrofitted cars or do we have to provide them a car for retrofitting? please:

A test drive report would be like icing on the cake!

Is there any info on the safety aspect? Has ARAI used the existing crash tests for this or has it been carried out with the modifications made for the EV? I ask since the structural strength of an engine vs batteries (if housed in the front) could be quite different. If the batteries are in the rear, has there been any structural changes done in the front?

For me, 150 km seems to be too short a range for comfort, especially since the range would drop when the batteries age. I wonder how long it takes for the batteries to charge to 50, 80 and 100 percent.

Kudos to E-Trio for the initiative. In my opinion, the infrastructure required for an electric car is still not there in India. Finding mobile chargers, knowledgeable technicians is the equivalent of finding hen's teeth. On top of that, 150 km of claimed range will result in range anxiety in most of the users. Let's not forget that things as trivial as headlamps and air conditioning will take a toll on the usable range.

For a city run about I think the range should be ok for someone who does less than 100 kms a day. An owner would probably need to charge the car daily overnight how one charges their phones. Good initiative. Hope it meets with success. If I had the parking I wouldn't mind an second car in the form of an electric Alto to drive around in the city.

This would be perfect for someone like me. I live in a small town and do about 20km per day. Was thinking of getting an automatic for my next small car upgrade but do not want to let go of my 2008 Alto either. If this is priced reasonably then I wouldn't mind converting my car to electric.

Retrofit all-Electric Maruti Suzuki Alto, Wagon R gets ARAI approval: Telangana Startup’s groundbreaking innovation
Electric Maruti Suzuki Alto and Wagon R developed by the company gets an electric motor that does not require any gear. The ARAI approved electric cars (electric Alto and electric Wagon R) can travel up to 150 km on a single charge confirmed E-trio.
Read more: https://www.financialexpress.com/aut...tik8PbBrw_WkqY

I am sorry but this sounds like a glorified juggad. What about the safety of the batteries? What about the safety of the car with the added weight of batteries? How will the batteries fare during a crash? How will the passengers fare in a crash? The batteries are known to catch fire or spill acid during a crash. Has the car been reinforced? Etc etc.

A top speed of 80 would mean that realistically the car would be comfortable doing around 60kmph which is too low even in the city. What about the range with A/C? Would it even have an A/C?

I am most worried about the safety aspect given that the base cars are unsafe to start with. Tesla does well in crash test because its built from grounds up to be an electric car. I just dont trust or see how this electric retro fit is going to work well.

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Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 4493602)

A radiator type of thing is visible in that alto, probably its an AC condenser.

This car would make a lot of sense to convert old city runabout cars when they require engine overhauling/replacement. For someone who spends a lot of time in urban traffic. EV would offer stress free drive of an automatic and lower running cost. However, pricing would be the major factor that'd decide whether this venture succeeds or fails.

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Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 4493602)

A top speed of 80 would mean that realistically the car would be comfortable doing around 60kmph which is too low even in the city.
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I am most worried about the safety aspect given that the base cars are unsafe to start with. Tesla does well in crash test because its built from grounds up to be an electric car. I just dont trust or see how this electric retro fit is going to work well.

Welcome to Bangalore traffic!
Speed of 60 KMPH is a luxury during most of the time a day except for few parts of the city.
I agree with all other safety aspects you mentioned.

I'm curious - is the ARAI approval for a retrofit kit -like an engine swap, or maybe a CNG kit which can be endorsed on your existing RC book ? Or is it for the converted vehicle as a whole?

If its for a retrofit kit which can be endorsed on your existing RC book - are there restrictions on age, make etc for the donor vehicle - or will it be allowed on any car having a valid RC/Fitness?
If it is for the vehicle as a whole, does E-Trio have a tie up with MSIL to provide brand new unregistered donor vehicles without the engines (similar to the Jayem, Tata Motors tie-up)?

Definitely interesting, but very few details available.