HALF A CAR-THE COMMUTING SOLUTION OF INDIA?

Bikash Choudhury

Just very recently I moved from a two wheeler to an SUV out of business necessity than to keep up with the joneses. Found that it has doubled my time in getting around a small city like Bhubaneswar and put pressure on my daily schedule. I wish there were any short cut to getting around the city in style while it should not be taxing in terms of time consumed on the road. I cracked upon an Idea, apparently the time for which has just arrived as city residents battered by traffic snarls daily. India could design a slimmer four wheeler that occupies 65-75% of road space and fits in chuffer and one passenger behind for traveling to office. This car could be on a regular or a brand new plat form designed for the purpose that looks after creature comforts of an office goer while providing safety, driving pleasure and sits comfortably on the wallet in terms of buying price and subsequent maintenance. These challenges can be addressed by simply fabricating a brand new engine of 350-500 Cubic Capacity which could be driven with multiple fuels like: fossil fuel, CNG, Solar and battery back up. The body cage could be fabricated out of composite metals and there could be provisions for one door in either side to access the car easily. This type of four wheeler could free 25-35% of road space that is getting dearer with each passing day and we hardly find an answer to a street fight on minor road mishaps invariably each day on some street corner. Unless, we fix our problem with the quality and quantity of roads in the future; half a car Idea could be an alternative solution to an extent but for a limited period of time.