29-Jun-2021: India gets Asia’s longest and world’s fifth longest High Speed Track for automobiles.
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar today inaugurated NATRAX- the High Speed Track(HST) in Indore which is the longest such track in Asia. NATRAX, developed in an area of 1000 acres of land , is a one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests for widest categories of vehicles from 2 wheelers to heavy tractor trailers.
Speaking at the e-inauguration of the world class 11.3 km High Speed Track, Shri Javadekar stated that India is destined to become a hub of automobiles, manufacturing, and spare parts. The Minister said, we are fast moving towards an ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ and all round efforts are being made in this direction. He said, his ministry is committed to fulfil Prime Minister’s dream of ensuring that India becomes a hub of auto manufacturing. He said, expanding automobiles and manufacturing industries will help generate the employment.
The Minister further said that projects in railways, highways and waterways which were languishing for years are today getting completed because of the strong political will.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri. Arjun Ram Meghwal, said, the government is promoting manufacturing and automobile industry as it will help empowering the nation at a larger scale.
The NATRAX centre has multiple test capabilities like measurements of maximum speed, acceleration, constant speed fuel consumption, emission tests through real road driving simulation, high speed handling and stability evaluation during manoeuvred such as lane change, high speed durability testing, etc. and is a Centre of excellence for Vehicle Dynamics.
HST is used for measuring the maximum speed capability of high-end cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Tesla and so forth which cannot be measured on any of the Indian test tracks. Being centrally located in Madhya Pradesh, it is accessible to most of the major OEMs. Foreign OEMs will be looking at NATRAX HST for the development of prototype cars for Indian conditions . At present, foreign OEMs go to their respective high speed track abroad for high speed test requirements.
It is one stop solution for all sorts of high speed performance tests, being one of the largest in the world. It can cater to widest category of vehicles; say from two wheelers to the heaviest tractor trailers. Vehicle can achieve max speed of 375 Kmph on curves with steering control and it has less banking on ovals making it also one of the safest test track globally.
12-May-2021: Innovative, Low Cost charging infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of EVs
The objectives of India’s Transformative Mobility program for promoting EVs are to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and to reduce the dependence on import of crude oil. The several initiative taken by the NITI-Aayog (Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage) and the launch of FAME-2 incentives are intended to stimulate the production and demand for EVs in India. Yet, the consumer adoption of EVs will also depend on the easy availability of EV charging infrastructure. Potential buyers must be confident of finding chargers for their vehicles when they are away from home.
The share of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) two-wheelers & three-wheelers is ~84% of total vehicle sales in our country. Therefore, the fastest adoption of EVs is expected to be in two-wheelers and three-wheelers. By 2025, forecasts expect up to 4 million of such vehicles could be sold each year, growing to almost 10 million by 2030. Any charging solution to serve this sector must be highly scalable, easily accessible by public; it should support interoperability, and be affordable. Most systems developed across the globe address higher levels of power and are very expensive for wide-spread deployment.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, in close co-ordination with NITI Aayog team had taken on this challenge. A committee involving all the key stakeholders including EV manufacturers, auto and electronic component suppliers, power utilities, and communication service providers has worked in fast-track mode to develop specifications, prototype products, and undertake testing and validation of the proposed standards. These will be formally issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
The Group had set a target price of less than Rs. 3500 ($50) for a smart AC charge point operated with a smartphone, for a global breakthrough in affordable EV charging infrastructure. Fast-track development of the standard, close working between industry and government, and diligent testing and validation has met with success. This Low-Cost AC ChargePoint (LAC) allows up to 3 kW of power to be drawn charging eScooters and eAutorickshaws. The user’s smartphone will communicate with the LAC via low-power Bluetooth and links up to a back-end where transaction payment and analytics are enabled. The user’s smartphone can be used for multiple accounts and payment options.
Several Indian manufacturers are already on board to make this Charge Point Device, as per Indian Standards, with target prices starting as low as Rs. 3500. The LAC device is intended to be highly scalable and deployed in any place where a 220V 15A single phase line is available – mainly targeting parking lots of metro and railway stations, shopping malls, hospitals, office complexes, apartments and even Kirana and other shops.
The draft Indian Standard has been taken up by the BIS Committee on Electromobility Standards. The formal release of the standards will be done within next two months, after completion of field and durability trials of sample products. It is expected that a new industry sector will emerge catering to the high volume, low-cost charging infrastructure for EVs.
Dr V. Sumantran, Chairman, DST-PSAO Group on Charging Infrastructure observed “when industry and government entities come together to work on national goals, remarkable progress can be achieved with speed. Furthermore, this effort brought out the talent in India for intelligent cost-innovation. Affordability constraints in India demand that we address problems keeping in mind both cost and scalability.”
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said “the emphasis on charging points rather than costly charging stations has led to the accelerated efforts by the team for developing the LAC Charging standard for the light electric vehicles segment, as the next logical step”.
29-Apr-2021: Central Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute, Budni (MP) tests the first-ever electric Tractor in the Institute
Central Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute, Budni (MP) has tested the first-ever electric Tractor in the Institute. The institute received the application for an electric tractor under Confidential Test initially. Accordingly, the institute has tested the tractor & released the Draft Test Report in February, 2021. After the release of the draft test report, the manufacturer has requested for conversion of the nature of the test from “Confidential to Commercial” and the competent authority has accepted the request of the manufacturer. Accordingly, the Test Report was released as a Commercial Test Report. Electric tractor will be more environment friendly than other types of tractors.
Central farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute, Budni (MP) has obtained the NABL Certificate of Accreditation for CMVR Test Laboratory on 30th March, 2021.
Accreditation is the third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying the formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks. Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) is a body that includes Testing including Medical Laboratory, Calibration Laboratory, Proficiency Testing Provider, Certified Reference Material Producer.
The liberalization of trade and industry policies of the Government of India has created quality consciousness in domestic trade and provided greater thrust for export. As consequence testing centres and laboratories have to demonstrably operate at an internationally acceptable level of competence.
Laboratory accreditation is a procedure by which an authoritative body gives formal recognition of technical competence for specific tests/ measurements, based on third party assessment and following international standards.
Similarly, Proficiency testing Provider accreditation gives formal recognition of competence for organizations that provide proficiency testing. Reference Material Producers Accreditation gives formal recognition of competence to carry out the production of reference materials based on third party assessment and following international standards.