Guwahati: An engineering student from Manipur’s state capital Imphal has been earning applause for his efforts in converting an over five-decade-old vintage scooter into an eco-friendly electric scooter (e-scooter). The young engineering student, Albert Sarangthem, currently pursuing his fifth-semester computer engineering programme at Imphal’s Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT), did a similar renovation on a motorcycle three years ago. The techie has named both his innovations as ‘Samadon,’ which means a flying winged horse in ancient Meitei mythology and religion.
Albert had named the earlier version of his innovation as ‘Samadon EV-I’ and the recent one as ‘Samadon EV-II.’ After charging the Samadon EV-II for around two and a half hours, it can run up to 50 kilometres.
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Albert, a resident of the Wangkhei Thambalkhong area in the northeast state’s Imphal East district, said that the vintage scooter originally belonged to his grandfather who used to ride it in the early 1970s.
“After my grandfather’s death, one of my uncles started riding it but later, he cast it aside and was rusting in our garage. Seeing it lying abandoned, I thought of renovating and converting it into an e-scooter. The basic mechanism to convert vehicles run on fuel into electric is to remove all the parts, including the engine, carburetor among others, that run only on fuel and to replace them with a motor, speed controller and battery, besides some other motor parts,” Albert said.
Though Albert was initially disappointed over the non-availability of some motor parts he needed for the conversion in the local market, he never gave up. He spent over eight months managing to collect them and finally ended up with his innovative Samadon EV-II.
“I bought all the major parts including the motor, speed controller and battery for the conversion of the scooter, and it took me over eight months to collect all of these due to the ongoing violence in our state,” Albert rued.
“I learned the majority of the skills on the internet and a few from a local e-rickshaw workshop,” he added.
In recognition of Albert’s extraordinary talent, he has been rewarded by Manipur Transport Minister Khashim Vashum. He also received a certificate of appreciation from his institute. A state transport department official said that anybody can do a similar conversion of a vehicle but needs to obtain type approval first for the same.
Images and reels of Albert with his Samadon EV-II have gone viral across social media platforms with the netizens appreciating him for his innovation.
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