#MICROMOBILITY - The next transport boom and huge potential for manufacturing powerhouse #EV

The traffic, whether urban or rural, is continuing to rise at an unabated pace to keep up with the growing population – not just in India but worldwide. The existing transportation modes especially cars, buses, and trains are struggling to keep up with this emerging transportation crisis. Cities and town planners are under constant pressure to provide, innovative yet, climate-friendly zero emission transport solutions. With COVID-19 impacting public transport and increasing fuel prices and emission concerns are casting doubts on the future of petrol and diesel vehicles, a perfect storm is in the creation for disruption by a new transport mode – Micromobility.

So, what is micromobility? While there are many definitions for this relatively new term in dictionaries and the internet, it can be broadly understood as small, usually electric, novel mobility devices intended for personal transportation or for last-mile deliveries, designed to be driven by one person such as electric standing scooters, cycles, skateboards, hoverboards, segways, etc. Terms like powered transporters, personal mobility devices, personal light electric vehicles, etc., are often used in synonymity for such devices. Recently, SAE International created a set of terminology for describing micromobility vehicles aiming to address the lack of a common vocabulary, as shown in the image below:

Source: Taxonomy and Classification of Powered Micromobility Vehicles J3194_201911

In 2019, McKinsey estimated that micromobility, by 2030, could be worth $300B-$500B industry. With countries (or regions of) Germany, France, Singapore, US, UK, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, etc., either legalizing or running trials on micromobility, the last few years have seen enormous investments being poured in – over $5 billion have been invested in micromobility start-ups since 2015 and several are now valued at more than $1 billion.

Micromobility vehicles are typically used for first and last-mile journeys, a term used for shorter journeys lasting for a few miles or kilometers. They typically have speed ranging from 10-25 km/h and can usually cover anywhere between 10-25 kilometers, although the exact speed and range will be dependent upon several other aspects like the type of vehicle model, battery, motor power, speed, weather, rider’s weight, and type of terrain. This gives a perfect ground for using them for short-distance deliveries, commutes or just personal fun. Similar to consumer electronics, they tend to have a lifespan of 2-3 years, promising a solid foundation for y-o-y growth and therefore an opportunity worth grabbing, especially for manufacturers in India.

India, being already a world leader in two-wheeler manufacturing and second only to China in bicycle manufacturing, has the true potential in becoming a world producer as well as consumer of micro-mobility vehicles. Given there is a lack of harmonized international regulations, unlike the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) vehicle regulations for two, three, four, and more than four-wheeled vehicles, this presents another massive opportunity in front of Indian manufacturers to seize it, to become a global leader, and steer the development of international regulations. Some international standards have started emerging for micromobility, most notably of which are:

· EN 17128:2020 – Personal light electric vehicles (PLEV). Requirements and test methods.

· ANSI/CAN/UL-2272:2016 – Electrical Systems for Personal E-Mobility Devices.

· SAE J3194 – Taxonomy and Classification of Powered micromobility Vehicles.

· IEC TC 125 – Personal e-Transporters (under development)

These standards are often used by manufacturers of micromobility devices in conjunction with previously known standards on similar devices or similar component for other vehicles such as:

· EN 15194:2017 – Electrically power-assisted cycles.

· UN38.3 – for the safety of lithium-ion batteries and suitability of their transportation.

· IEC/EN 62133 series – Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary cells, and for batteries.

· EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC – essential health and safety requirements for machinery which only applies to products that are to be placed on the EU market.

· ECE R10 – For a demonstration of compliance with the requirements on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

The majority of these standards are paving the way to the future of micromobility. The manufacturers should embrace these to design and develop safe vehicles of the future.

Increasing O2 concentrator efficiency #covid-19 #covidrecovery #O2concentrator

Today we shall be looking slightly off the topic. The second wave has been a devastating one. There has been an increasing number of usage of O2 concentrators among the patients and the people who are recovering from Covid-19.

Before we look into how to maximize efficiency, let's briefly understand how a concentrator works. O2 concentrators suck atmospheric air which has 21% of oxygen and 78% of nitrogen, filters it, pass it through several molecular sleeves, and pumps oxygen-rich concentrated air to the patient. The main working component of the concentrator is the compressor. It is vital to reduce your compressor work as much as possible by keeping the room cool and well ventilated. An overheated compressor will lead to poor oxygen concentration. The below steps are the following which I have enforced and maximized the efficiency and output of the concentrator which eventually helps people recover sooner. One should set up a forced ventilation system to have enough fresh air moving in and out of the room. To do this, you need the following

1) Air cooler or Pedestal fan

2) Exhaust fan (optional)

In a forced ventilation system, restrain using Air conditioners and ceiling fan. It is very important to keep the doors and windows open in the room where the person is resting. Now with all preparations done. Let's see below how to set it up.

The air cooler sucks fresh air from the living room and pushes it into the room. The pressurized air helps to remove the hot and stale air inside the room. This forced ventilation system helps the O2 concentrator work more efficiently and for longer hours without shutting off the system.

Stay Safe!

Our very first Blog!! Beating the myth around #Frozenfoods

When it comes to frozen products, first thing which comes to our mind is, low quality product, it lacks nutrients, and old. We can't blame the way how our human brain thinks and how our thinking is influenced. Ok! enough of psychology. Going back to the debate of frozen vs fresh food. Many of us have grown up learning frozen is bad and not that great for health. Well, this statement would have been true if we were still living in mid 19th century when a product called refrigeration was still in its early stages. Hmmm! Did you change your opinion now? Ok, lets continue...

Frozen products have come a long way. We will see how inventions have helped this in further posts. One could argue how fresh is your produce for days, we are seeing increasing number of startups, organizations which are assuring farm to consumer model. We yet don't know which is offering the freshest produce. Now let's try to understand how fresh produce get's on to our table. A farmer harvests his produce, packs it, sells it to local merchant, which gets sold to the bigger market and from there it ends up on our table. Do you think all this happens on the same day of harvesting? No.... Do you still say your produce is fresh? Sometimes this could take days or weeks depending on where the product is produced. All this time the fresh produce keeps losing it's valuable nutrients, antioxidants and minerals. Whereas, in the case of frozen products, the produce is sorted, cleaned, blanched and frozen as soon as the produce gets harvested. This applies to your veg, meat and fish. Freezing as early as possible stops decaying and oxidation making the produce not lose it's nutrients, antioxidants, and minerals. It can be also be stored for months as the bacteria doesnt replicate at those temperatures. If you have come till here you all love some science experiment I guess, lets take a look at this video.

Looks like your opinion about frozen produce has changed now. Next time when you go to market, just think over it when someone is selling Fresh Produce and make your choice between fresh and frozen depending on where you live. Happy eating frozen foods! Let's continue in our next blog how technology and factories of the future will help to make frozen products even better than fresh and meet our demands throughout the year.