KPIT Cummins’ Revolo to enter production in six months

Revolo, the battery-powered technology that promises to transform a petrol-engined car into a hybrid one in just two hours, would be available in the country starting June this year.

Kishor Patil, CEO & managing director of KPIT Cummins, the country’s largest automotive technology company, told DNA that the plug-in conversion kit that saves on fuel efficiency and carbon emissions will be initially available for a Maruti 800 or its equivalent at Rs65,000-70,000. For a 3-litre vehicle such as the Tata 207 light truck, the kit will cost Rs1.5 lakh.

“We would like to increase the number of cars on this technology from the present (only handful are undergoing test-runs) to a few hundreds by the end of 2011,” said Patil.

KPIT Cummins and Bharat Forge are collaborating on this indigenously developed technology.

Abdul Majeed, auto practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said there is regulatory pressure building up in India, which will force the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to adopt cleaner fuel technologies. “This sort of a technology of having hybrid kits can be successful if the perception of the customer is changed, Typically, the customer has concerns over the driveability being affected if hybrid kits are fitted, would such a product tamper with the comfort of the car, escalation in cost of ownership, etc.”

Both companies claim they are now able to cut the cost of vehicle hybridisation by as much as a fifth. The Automotive Research Association of India, which tested the technology, said that it produced fuel efficiency gains of more than 40% on a standard fuel-consuming engine. Patil said that the work on the manufacturing facility coming up for Revolo in Pune has already started. The technology will be offered first in the so-called after-market, which comprises 90% of the car population.

“We have already been in talks with one Indian and one foreign OEM and the kit would be available at the earlier decided price,” Patil said.

Prakash Diwan, head of research, Networth, a research firm, said that for a product like this to be successful huge support needs to come from the OEMs as the auto manufacturers would not want to risk their reputation and also compromise on their vehicles’ driveability. The companies said the development of Revolo was a little under $2 million.

The kit pays for itself in two years, at an average daily run of 50 kms, he said. The companies expect that technology should generate Rs300-500 crore next year, which would translate into selling between 30,000 and 50,000 kits in the next year, assuming an average price of Rs1 lakh per kit.