The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has recently issued a notification with respect to the Motor Vehicles Act 1989 and said that the act will be amended very soon to permit retro-fitment of any of the hybrid or an electric system on the present vehicle. The notification-in-waiting to be approved (Rule 115-D) has been issued to make an attempt to reduce vehicular pollution. With regards to the notification, the retro-fitment will be categorized into three and the requirement stipulated by the AIS-123 standards will be conformed with.

As per the details in the draft, the category-I will cover passenger cars and goods carriers of the small range which do not exceed a gross weight of 3500 kg. Meanwhile, the category-II will cover those vehicles which exceed the 3500 kg mark. The category-III will include conversion of motor vehicles for completely electric operation by installing the electric engine in place of fossil fuel one. The conversion to hybrid or an electric powertrain from the standard internal combustion engines (ICE) will be allowed via authorized workshops. The hybrid or electric kit manufacturer or supplier will also be required to attain an approval certificate from any of those authorized testing agencies under the prescription of the government.

Ever since the government has taken up the issue of banning or scrapping vehicles older than 15 years actively, the future of fossil-based petrol and diesel vehicles has been in question. There is also a proposal to encourage owners through incentives in the draft to scrap vehicles older than 12 years. The incentives will be reimbursed when the owner buys another new vehicle. For those owners who seek to retain their present cars for a later period, solution lies in conversion to an electric or hybrid powertrain.

The latter one is also a good solution for vintage cars which can be kept alive without running them on older engines intact. Many people love keeping vintage cars as a mark of pride for themselves and their family. Some even have a hobby of keeping old military or heavy-duty four-wheel drive vehicles alive and showcase them whenever there is an opportunity, thus earning them bucks for their hobby.

But the deal may go through the tough period which is currently being witnessed all over the world. Many countries including France and other countries have pledged to change the entire car engines or car types by the end of the coming decade.

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