Have you ever thought about the impact your fuel-based vehicle has on the environment? These vehicles are powered by fossil fuels and add to the increasingly rising global warming while carrying expensive fuel and maintenance costs. Therefore, you must switch to an option that has a less adverse impact on the carbon footprint.

While electric vehicles can do the trick, they usually carry higher price tags, making them unaffordable to the average customer. However, you can convert your ride into a hybrid vehicle with advancements in technology. With the help of hybrid conversion kits, you can quickly transform your ride to make it more eco-friendly.

How to convert your car into a hybrid vehicle?

The conversion process involves the removal of the entire combustion engine of the car and replacing it with an electronic motor and a bank of batteries. Depending on the conversion kit and the car build, the conversion process can cost you anywhere between 3 to 5 lakh rupees. After this expenditure, you will have an emission-free vehicle that costs only a few bucks per mile.

Due to having lesser mechanical parts, the converted vehicle will have a lesser chance of part failure leading to a higher resale value than petrol or diesel cars. Additionally, the converted vehicle will be very reliable and require less maintenance than a conventional fuel-powered vehicle. Almost all the parts are solid-state electronic components with a relatively long lifespan in an electric car.

You will have to replace your hybrid car’s battery every 3 to 4 years, and it will take about 6 to 12 hours to recharge your hybrid vehicle. You can expect your hybrid vehicle to have a range of 95 to 130 kilometres and a top speed ranging between 90 to 150 kilometres per hour. All these factors are influenced by the quality of components and the vehicle’s weight.

Is Converting Old Cars into Hybrid Vehicles Possible?

While earlier it was troublesome to convert your vehicle into a hybrid car, the authorities made amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, allowing you to change your car's core. They have made provisions for retrofitting new and phased out fuel-based vehicles with electric motors and drivetrains. You can choose to retrofit your vehicle with a hybrid conversion kit to make it more eco-friendly.

Guidelines for Converting Your Car into a Hybrid

To convert your car into a hybrid vehicle, you need to visit your respective Regional Transport Office (RTO) and get the required permissions and approvals. Also, you must ensure that your car is capable of undergoing such a transformation. Once your vehicle passes the requirements mentioned above, you can get it retrofitted with a hybrid conversion kit.

Best Conversion-Ready Cars in the Market

Maruti Suzuki Dzire

Using RTO-approved fuel-electric kits, you can convert your Maruti Suzuki Dzire into a Hybrid electric vehicle. Since hybrid conversion kits are model-specific, Maruti Suzuki Dzire’s popularity reaps the benefits. After retrofitting, Maruti Suzuki Dzire produces an output of 60hp and 170Nm torque.

Tata Ace

Tata Ace is one of the most popular commercial vehicles that can be converted into a hybrid electric vehicle. Interestingly, the Tata Ace retains its 1-tonne loading capacity even after retrofitting. You can expect an 80 to 150 km range per charge (depending on the load) and a top speed of 80 kmph.

Maruti Suzuki Ignis

A noteworthy feature of the Maruti Suzuki Ignis (Electric/HEV) is that it offers a manual transmission, which is often missing in electric vehicles. It is another mass-production car by Maruti Suzuki that can be converted into an all-electric or hybrid electric vehicle. It offers a range of 120 or 240 km, depending on the hybrid conversion kit you install.

Companies That Offer Retrofitting Kits for Fuel-based Cars

Although many OEM hybrid vehicles are available in the Indian market right now, a few companies also offer hybrid conversion kits that you can install in your car to turn it into a hybrid vehicle. Here are a few retrofit kits that you can choose from depending on the build and make of your vehicle.

Northway Motorsport

They are a leading name in the hybrid car conversion kit space. They offer commercial, sedan, expedition and performance series, hybrid conversion kits, depending on the make and model of your vehicle. They have already received approvals for their retrofit kits of Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Maruti Ignis and Tata Ace.

Bosch eAxle Kit

The Bosch eAxle retrofit kit is a compact and cost-effective solution for petrol or diesel cars. The kit combines the electric motor, power electronics and transmission to create a compact unit, making the electric drive more manageable. Due to silicon-carbide semiconductor technology, it offers up to 96% efficiency with lesser battery consumption.

ETrio

ETrio plans to convert all diesel/petrol-powered vehicles into hybrid vehicles. The core components of the hybrid conversion kits are an electric motor, controller, and lithium-ion battery unit. At ₹4 lakh, the hybrid car conversion kit provided by ETrio might seem expensive, switching to an all-electric system might save additional costs.

Loop Moto

They are known for producing compact electric kits. The motor consists of an electric powertrain with Li-ion batteries, a battery management system, and other accessories. Their hybrid conversion kit ranges 180 km per charge with a top speed of 80 kmph.

The companies mentioned above have been in the car conversion business for quite some time. They provide you with a complete retrofit solution by providing the best hybrid conversion kit and installation at their respective facilities. For your next vehicle upgrade or conversion, you can contact us at Auto Best Emperio. We can help you grab hold of some of the best hybrid cars available on the market or help you install the hybrid conversion kit into yours.