Electric Vehicles

Mercedes-Benz C-Class converted from ICE to EV

Written by AnantaSaranNayak

Want to convert your ICE car to electric? Tadpole Projects, one of the emerging pioneers in retrofitting vehicles, can help you achieve the same. Incubated in the Innovation Labs of IITs, they recently accomplished the task of converting an ICE engine powered Mercedes-Benz C-180. This talks volumes of the brand’s vision for the future, with retrofitting as the central theme. The future of mobility is no doubt electric, and hence Tadpole Projects will have a lot of room to experiment and lead the way.

Detailed Analysis Of The Conversion

The C-Class used under this project is a 2003 make with a petrol engine. After the conversion, Tadpole Projects has equipped the vehicle with an array of the latest mobility features. This includes GPS, Geo-fencing, and remote performance assessment. Furthermore, the vehicle also gets 3 years of warranty on the batteries and 2 years on the EV kit.

Currently, the vehicle gets AC charging, but Tadpole has confirmed that if the need arises, they can equip a DC charging set up. The total charging time taken by the batteries to get fully charged is about 5 to 6 hours. Tadpole Projects mentioned that after the conversion, the vehicle can deliver a mileage of 150 km on a single charge. If someone wants to increase the mileage, they can do so by expanding it to 250 km.

The Road Ahead

With the growing demand for EVs in the market, the demand for electric mobility is increasing at a constant rate. Innovative ideas like these can go a long way in accelerating the national vision of propelling electric mobility adoption. Tadpole Projects, which is a subsidiary of Trouve Motors, is planning to launch a range of new EVs. This will include an advanced hyper sports bike and the first electric car, Sports Activity Coupe.

In the long term, Trouve Motors aims to undertake the responsibility of retrofitting vehicles like buses, cranes, earth-moving and other construction equipment. The brand has laid down an aspirational plan to expand its network across India through franchises and retrofit ICE vehicles in the most economical way possible. Moreover, it is also looking forward to establishing a battery swapping network. This will help curtail the cost of ownership of its kits for the commercial segment and private vehicle owners in the coming years.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Ignis gets an EV conversion kit, up to 240 km range.