Thiruvananthapuram: A group of students of Government Engineering College Barton Hill, Thiruvananthapuram, have found their way to global competition with an electric car designed by them.

Pravega, a team of 19 students from the mechanical stream of the college, has designed the car with the mentorship of Technopark-based Acsia Technologies. Their project has reached the final stage of the International Energy Efficiency Competition, Shell Eco Marathon (SEM) 2022. The project is also supported by the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme of the Kerala government.

The car is curiously titled ‘Vandy’, a colloquial term for vehicle in Malayalam. Pravega is one among the five teams that qualified for the the event to be held at Pertamina Mandalika circuit at Indonesia from October 11 to 16.

“This season we rebuilt our car entirely from scratch refining our design strategy. What makes us unique is the use of unlikely materials derived from nature and recycled waste. ‘Vandy’ is designed with the objective of making less carbon footprint with optimum aerodynamics and minimum weight. Acsia, being a technology leader in the e-mobility space, has helped us define our electronic and software design and strategy better,” Kalyani S Kumar, who leads the students team, said.

Acsia Technologies’ founder and CEO Jijimon Chandran said he was happy to see students from Kerala with a passion for innovation entering a global competition.

“At Acsia we develop software solutions for the world’s leading automobile manufacturers including BMW, making automobiles more seamless, intuitive, and fun. We are proud to have mentored the students of Barton Hill Government Engineering College and it has been an interesting journey for us. Acsia will continue to mentor our student community, imparting relevant knowledge and making them industry ready and supporting their journey owards becoming world-class engineers,” Chandran said.

SEM, conducted by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, is an international competition where students from all around the world design, build, and test cars with ultra-efficiency. The goal of this leading energy efficiency competition is to build super mileage cars, both in the electric and gasoline categories that inspire thought and action and inspire the future of mobility.

Dr Anish K John guided the project.