In an effort to create a greener future, a 23-year-old mechanical engineer from Hyderabad has started a startup that converts old fuel vehicles into electric vehicles.
In 2021, while he was still a student at the Methodist College of Engineering in Hyderabad, Maaz Ahmed Khan began his impressive work of restoring old vehicles that are typically given for scrap after being used for 10 to 15 years.
Greener Future
“I was actually working on my idea of making an in house design auto rickshaw which has enough range. It was taking a lot of time and a lot of resources to make. Then an idea struck my mind to convert the existing vehicles instead of making new ones because a normal petrol vehicle tends to last for about 10 to 15 years and then people want to scrap them. This old fuel vehicle also contributes to pollution. That is when the idea of sustainable development and having a greener future came to my mind,” Maaz said sharing his remarkable journey with The Cognate.
He added, “We thought it was best to convert this existing fuel vehicle to electric. So even if the people have some old vehicles and want to scrap it, they can give them to us. We have converted it into electric and as well as we have the feature of restoring the vehicle back to its original.”
Starting Up Torq Electric
While Maaz was studying EV in his final year, he developed interest in the subject and was looking for someone to help him start building on his ideas. He applied for a job at a non-academic startup incubator EdVenture Park, which focuses on student innovations. After getting selected, the youngster began working on his dream goal, and founded Torq Electric in March 2021.
Speaking of the hurdles he faced along his journey, the 23-year-old said, “Procurement of kits and batteries for the design was one the biggest challenges because the safety of our client is one of the most important and major concerns of electric vehicles. The other challenges was to get all this done at a price point which is accepted by the market.”
Torq has two variants – one is electric conversion and the other is hybrid conversion. For electric conversion, Maaz said they charge 50,000 for a scooter and 55,000 for a bike and for hybrid they charge 55,000 for a scooter and 58,000 for a bike. We have scooters for three to four vehicles.
“Fully electric conversion is where we replace an existing engine and fuel tank with an electric motor. In the hybrid conversion we add an extra electric motor and battery so that people can drive on both power trains,” he said.
When asked about the response of people, Maaz said, “Initially people did not think something of this is actually possible. It took us a lot of time to educate people that it is possible. EVs are safe to be driven and we also provide after sales support. We have a lot of orders coming in from all over the country and we are planning to go national because the response is overwhelming.”
Shut Up and Do It
The young founder of Torq in a message to the other people who want to startup said, “All you have to do is believe in the idea and if you have an idea or want to innovate something, it will not happen on one fine day, you have to work on it consistently. It will happen one step at a time. Be consistent. And just shut up and do it.”
“This is what Edvneture Park‘s founder and CEO Meraj Faheem tells us. He elaborates his statement of just shut up and do it and says, “Edventure Park is an incubation center for ideation, stage startups where they take the fundamentals of building your company from an idea to a revenue generating business.”
“At Edventure they see you for what you can be, not for what you are. Because one fine day you might become the next Elon musk. Everybody has to start from somewhere right?” he says.
Idea Behind Torq Electric
Explaining his idea behind the name of his startup, Maaz said, “Torq is actually a physics word which means rotating force. It is the force that is needed to run the vehicle. When you calculate your vehicles, speed and stuff you are actually calculating in terms of Torq. That is the basic idea.”
