Greaves & Altigreen to offer retrofit hybrid powertrain kits

Greaves Cotton has announced a strategic partnership with Altigreen Propulsion Labs, a US and Bangalore based start-up to give hybrid powertrain options to 3-wheeler and micro 4-wheeler commercial vehicles.

The partnership's first product launch will be Altigreen's Hybrid Power Intelligent Exchange Drive (HyPixi) which is a low-cost aftermarket hybrid powertrain. It consists of a 48V battery unit that will be installed in the boot of the car, a motor control unit and a motor-generator that will be connected to the engine via the engine belt. The system is ARAI approved and is protected by patents in USA and other countries. The product is also certified under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR).

The retrofit HyPixi system does not require external charging as it incorporates regenerative braking. The system is similar to the SHVS mild hybrid offered by Maruti Suzuki on the Ciaz, Ertiga and the facelifted S-Cross, although they use a smaller capacity battery (12V). The company claims an improvement in fuel efficiency of up to 25 percent and a return on investment period of less than a year. Initially, the product will be available for 4-wheelers with gross vehicle weight of less than 2 tonnes. 

According to Greaves Cotton, there are an estimated 5 million Greaves-powered vehicles on the Indian roads today. These passenger and cargo vehicles will be the first vehicles to be offered the hybrid retrofit solution in India through Greaves' 3,500+ aftersales network.