As if to time with the intense debates going on about electric mobility, TVS Motors has managed to obtain a new patent for a hybrid three-wheeler design from the Chennai patent office. The original application for this patent was filed by the company in 2009.
TVS Motors has put out an elaborate statement giving out the technical details of the patent and how it will alter the existing design parameters and save on cost.
The major innovation here is to provide for flexible coupling of the flywheel of the internal combustion engine with the motor shaft, which are two critical driving components of the power train. To understand this better, a hybrid model is where the vehicle is neither pure internal combustion engine powered nor fully electric power run; it is a hybrid. It must be understood that the internal combustion model will power the engine which will make the wheels rotate via the driveshaft. In the electric powered vehicle, the power goes to the electric motor and the power it generates has to be sent to the wheels with the same driveshaft. This is the challenge for which TVS Motors has come up with a solution. The flexibility given to the flywheel to do the coupling to match with the powertrain is at the heart of this patent.
In addition to this, the company says it has also found a way to “provide a mounting arrangement for the electric motor that occupies less space and offer flexible connection with a crankshaft of the engine in order to take care of misalignments during manufacturing and assembly of the individual parts”.
These inventions will go towards saving costs so that the overall cost of the three-wheeler will be less. Apart from this, there will be savings in fuel consumption resulting in economical running costs. Three-wheelers are an important part of India’s public transport system capable of moving three passengers and can slice through congested roads.
The company has also succeeded in increasing the sale of three-wheelers by 11% last month in the midst of all the gloom in the automobile sector in the country. The company sold 14,604 units in August 2019 compared to 13,141 in August 2018.