Manipur Engineer Student Transforms Vintage Scooter Into Eco-Friendly Vehicle

An engineering student from Manipur has transformed a vintage Bajaj-150 scooter into an eco-friendly electric vehicle. Albert Sarangthem, the engineering student from Imphal named the e-vehicles as ‘Samadon’, a divine flying horse in Meitie mythology.

He is currently pursuing 5th semester in computer engineering at Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT).

Albert earned praised and appreciation for his work. He named his e-bike as ‘Samadon EV I’ and candy red e-scooter as ‘Samadon EV II’.

“The scooter was used by one of my maternal uncles before it was abandoned and got rusted at his house from where I took it and did the makeover,” said Albert.

He said the basic mechanism to transform a fuel-run vehicle into an electric one is to take away all parts which are operated by fuel engine, carburettor and other co-related parts and replace with motor, speed controller, battery and other interrelated parts.

“I purchased major parts like motor, battery and speed controller for retrofitting my scooter, and because of the ongoing ethnic conflict, these parts reached here very late,” he said.

Albert said he learnt his skills through internet coupled with the mechanism of e-rickshaw he saw in the workshops in Imphal.

He also received a certificate of appreciation for “his effort, and innovative work in building a model electric bike” from his engineering institute in 2022.