IIT Kgp builds shed to charge e-bikes

In yet another move to make IIT Kharagpur campus a green one, a shed to charge e-bikes with solar power was inaugurated on Friday afternoon.

Earlier, IIT Kharagpur authorities had stopped the use of vehicles run by fossil fuel by the students in order to bring down the level of pollution while at the same time to encourage the use of eco-friendly mode of transport.

There are 12,000 students in IIT Kharagpur now.

Two bikes can recharge the battery with solar power at the shed. Three solar panels have been installed in the shed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,000. It has been calculated that to recharge the battery of the e-bikes with electricity, the cost of per unit is Rs 8.

The cost is drastically brought down to Rs 4 per unit in solar power. Thus, the use of solar power is not only eco-friendly but it is also very economical. The students IIT Kharagpur use bicycles to go to classes from their hostels. In the cycle stand situated beside the Nalanda educational complex, hundreds of cycles used by the students are parked when classes are held.

The authorities are planning to set up a solar panel there so that if students use e-bikes in the future, they will face no problem recharging the batteries of their bikes.

It may be mentioned that to encourage the use of e bikes, Professor Partha Pratim Chakraborty, director IIT Kharagpur, himself uses an e-bike daily. Another professor named PP Das also uses an e-bike. IIT Kharagpur had brought 10 e-bikes, five of which are being kept for the students who can hire them at Rs 10 per hour.

It may be mentioned that the students of IIT Kharagpur are now working on the construction of two-seater and four-seater e-cars.

They have made the designs and are now working on the suspension, gear box and other mechanical aspects of the cars.