Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Researchers at the department of electrical engineering, the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) have developed a new technology for onboard chargers for vehicles. They have claimed that this technology costs about half of the current onboard charger technology and can reduce the cost of two and four-wheeler electric vehicles.
According to the official reports, Dr Rajeev Kumar Singh, associate professor and chief project investigator, said: “Amid the rising cost of petroleum products and rising pollution levels, electric vehicles (EVs) are the best alternative to conventional IC engines, but lack of high-power offboard charging infrastructure forces automakers to incorporate onboard chargers into the vehicle itself. The vehicle owner can charge the vehicles through the outlet. In such a situation, electric vehicles become very expensive. With the new technology developed in the institute, the cost of on-board charger can be reduced by about 50 per cent.”
He further added- “This will also significantly reduce the cost of electric vehicles. The technology will be completely indigenous and will have a significant impact on driving electric vehicles on Indian roads in a big way. Lab-scale development has already been done at IIT (BHU) and up-gradation and commercialization are in progress. A country’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer has also shown interest in this new technology and is ready to develop a full-fledged commercial product that can be applied to existing electric vehicles. Experts from IIT Guwahati and IIT Bhubaneswar have also collaborated for this technology development. This research is financially supported by the ministry of electronics and information technology.”
This innovative technology of the institute will also contribute to the e-mobility mission of the government. With the help of this new technology, the charging infrastructure of vehicles in the country will be improved and the access of the general public to electric vehicles will be possible easily.
