The last 12 months, Dutch and Indian students-teams have worked on innovations for polluting tuktuks, to make these cleaner and more efficient. The Hybrid Tuktuk Project has been set up to let students come up with solutions for an existing environment- and social problem.

In many big cities in Asia, the tuktuk is the most important vehicle. However, these tuktuks emit a lot of CO2 and other damaging chemicals and consume a lot of fuel. The goal of the Hybrid Tuktuk Project is to change this.

Saving energy and fuel costs

The LPG direct fuel injection system of the HAN defeated amongst others a start stop system of the Technical University Eindhoven, an energy-saving exhaust pipe of the Technical University Delft and a CNG fuel injection of the Hanze-college Groningen.

The winner was chosen based on emission-tests, fuel consumption-races and a business-plan for the introduction of the system in India. The system of the HAN saves 26 per cent energy and 35 per cent of fuel costs compared to a standard petrol tuktuk, and costs about € 200,-. ‘Our system deals with the roots of the problem’,

Patricks Hendriks (28), final year student Electrical Engineering and travelling mechanic of team HAN, says. ‘We did not focus on treatment of the symptoms, but on the real cause of all problems.’

Not without a hitch

Although the team had already finished the concept-developments in Holland, it did not go without a hitch in India. Patrick: ‘Indian LPG has a different chemical composition, which caused our tuktuk to stop working. But fortunately after a day of programming we were able to get it started again.’

Developing a product up for sale

The HAN team is not totally finished yet. ‘Proceeding from the concept, a product up for sale must now be developed,’ Patrick says. ‘Our target is to bring it on the market in the beginning of next year’.

Source: Sensor