Seven Students of DCE unplugged their potential by designing the First Hybrid Car of India.  

A seven student team of DCE has designed and developed a gasoline- electric hybrid car from concept to the finished product and participated in the Annual Green Car Championship organized by North East Sustainable Energy Association of USA from May 10-14, 2006. The first hybrid car of India was flagged off by Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi on April 27, 2006 from her residence in presence of Dr. Deepak Pantal, Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University and Prof. PB Sharma, Principal DCE. The DCE hybrid car competed in the international competition in the Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Category and was awarded the first prize from among several universities from around the world. The DCE hybrid car, code named ‘The Fledge’, is a combined effort of seven students of DCE and is an attempt to propel India in the arena of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), and portray the innovative and reative genius of the youth of our country. ‘ Necessity is the mother of all inventions’ and the mounting burden of petroleum prices on the common man has kindled a spark in the DCE students to unearth this new technology with a revolutionary drive train said Abhishek Agarwal, the team leader.  


Power transmission in the DCE Hybrid Car occurs on the engine as well as on the motor mode providing the user with an option of switching to either mode at any point of their journey. A powerful 18BHP, 346cc engine along with a 3.5HP, 3000 rpm permanent magnet DC motor serves the very purpose. Falling in neither category of series or parallel hybrid cars, the DCE Hybrid employs its customized drive train incorporating less complex components and hence being more efficient. A 200Ah lead acid battery with a 13 litre fuel tank provide with the Energy storage system. The DCE hybrid is a green car with near zero emissions in urban driving conditions. The vehicle can be made commercially viable as besides being fuel efficient it will also be affordable to the common man. Its potential has been showcased at the international competition ‘TourDeSol’.  


With ‘The Fledge’ we hope to open a new dimension to the burgeoning automobile industry of India. Success, however, is never a matter of luck or genius. Two years of indomitable commitment and determination paved out path to success. The student team comprises of Abhinav Bhatia, Abhinav Duggal, Abhishek Agarwal, Anubhav Jain, Ashish Dudani, Nitesh Gupta and Siddharth Arora, all 6th semester mechanical engineering students. Dept. of Science and Technology Govt. of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Air-India, and ofcourse DCE have financed the innovative venture which has won India Pride. We are committed to make the hybrid vehicle commercially viable at an affordable cost said principal Prof. PB Sharma. Several automotive giants including Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Honda and Maruti have applauded the efforts of DCE hybrid team. Hybrid is the technology solution to the twin problems of environmental pollution as well as an alternative to the gasoline vehicle. The vehicle being noise less and pollution free would provide to Indian metros such as Delhi a viable transport vehicle for the roads said Prof. Sagar Maji, the faculty advisor and Head Mechanical Engineering of DCE The vehicle will also be highly suitable for use in zero tolerance areas such as large hospital campuses, airports, and large institutional campuses such as IIT’s, DCE and University Campuses.

The jubilant DCE student team upbeat with the spirit of innovation. The students are already in the final stage of developing a super mileage vehicle which will log a whopping 320km in a single litre of petrol. Naturally India’s automotive industry has lot to gain from DCE innovations.