IIT Delhi’s new department to focus research on electric vehicles

NEW DELHI, JUNE 1: IIT Delhi has launched the Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART) to focus teaching, research, and technological service in the area of electric vehicles, energy storage and monitoring, and automotive health monitoring. The CART will conduct interdisciplinary research on various aspects of electric vehicles including charging infrastructure, battery degradation and power quality.

Since countries around the world are gradually drifting away from fossil fuels, the onus of the research will be on solving the practical problems of large-scale application in India. “ When it comes to the large scale application in India, there are many country-specific problems that we have to consider. for example, the lithium-ion batteries will face quick degradation in the harsh summer heat,” said Prof B K Panigrahi, Head of CART.

The centre has a unique mandate that requires one-third of its faculty to be from the industry affiliated areas. This is in line with the institute’s continued efforts to accommodate industry professionals into academia.

The institute is looking to reel in expert academicians from reputed foreign universities for the centre.“Representatives of the institute will be travelling to the Ivy League universities in the United States to make presentations on CART while also looking to recruit reputed professors,” said V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi.

The CART is also planning to launch an industry-sponsored postgraduate programme on electric vehicles that allows students to work on their projects within the industry.