Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Innovations with car

Diesel/other fuel exhaust collection bin in-built with car
We all know that exhaust fumes of a car add to air pollution because of particulates in form of harmful particles and gases being a part of it. Now, cars companies slog hard to work out the best fuel efficiency and reducing emissions and even designing hybrids which is a major innovation of the auto industry. But I wonder if they have ever thought about collecting a portion of these emissions in another filter/bin which can be a part of the automobile itself. What I mean is that once fuel has been made best use of, the particulate matter of the exhaust fumes can be again filtered to collect as much of it in a collector (I have seen mufflers of bikes collecting some of it and local mechanics burning the inner silencer time and again but I wonder if that colection is done purposefully). These collectors can then be emptied at the time of servicing of these automobiles. If this can be done then a lot of harmful particulate matter can be saved from mixing in environment "red-hot" and we might have cleaner air to breathe.

Electric assist for slow speeds !
We have seen Mahindra & Mahindra coming out with a micro hybrid which shuts down the engine when you release the accelerator and press brakes (usually while stopping at a red signal) and comes on when you press the clutch to get into gear again. A very good step indeed. This hybrid feature has been around for almost 4-5 years with Ford, Mercedes and some others but it's good to see Indian manufacturers catching up on the hybrid vehicles in whatever possible way. Tata plans to have the same with Nano and Indica soon. I am sure we shall soon (maybe another 5 years or so) be using full hybrids. Then there are hybrids like Toyota Prius where electricity  supports higher speeds and bring petrofuels consumption down. 
However, what I think is needed for Indian roads is a hybrid which can drive the cars till about a speed of aroud 20 kmph and here's why. In metros and next tier cities, during peak hours of 3 hours of mornings and evenings, people spend 50-60% of their time waiting at red-light or driving at speeds under 20 kmph @ 5-15 minutes every jam. So, if a hybrid vehicle can have an electric assist to push the car through this rut, imagine the polllution levels coming down and the savings on expensive fuel (Crude hitting $72 at the time of writing this).
What I also belive is that such a system can be devised for existing vehicles using a battery (can replace existing one in car, has to be different which can support frequent discharging), motor (can be put in the boot) and some engineering.

Remote to turn on the AC
Ever wished if the car could be switched on via blue-tooth or atleast the AC so that is is cool by the time you enter it?


No comments: