Conversion of a Three-Wheeler Into an Electric Vehicle for In-Campus Transportation

In recent years there has been a significant focus towards bringing EVs to the market because of the regulations in carbon emissions and increased customer awareness. Unlike the passenger car and two wheelers that are mainly used for personal transportation, the IC engine three wheelers are widely used as commercial vehicles to carry passengers and loads. Converting an existing vehicle in the market to an electric reduces emission and increases sustainability. Large battery capacity is used in these vehicles to achieve the range, thus increasing the initial cost and making it unpopular among customers. However, requirements of the three-wheeler electric vehicles are high in big institutions, resorts, golf courses, hospitals and many other places for internal campus transportation. It is not commercially viable to make a complete design of Body-In-white (BIW) & suspension for this application. Hence, a method of converting an existing three-wheeler into an EV is explained here. Various layout options for battery location is considered and optimized layout is decided based on significant factors. Similarly, the selection of traction motor is explained in detail. An EV model is presented for calculating the range and the test results are presented. We converted an IC engine three-wheeler into an electric, calculated the resistances, EV components specifications and verified with a prototype against the design requirements.