IIT Delhi Inaugurated “Cart” To Promote Research In Electric Vehicles

IIT Delhi has inaugurated the Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART) with a vision to become an internationally recognized centre in teaching, research, and technological service in the area of Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage & Monitoring, Automotive Health Monitoring, Calibration & Diagnostics, and Tribology. 

CART has emerged from ITMMEC, a centre established in the 70’s that focused on Industrial Tribology and was nationally and internationally an acclaimed research centre in its focus area.

CART envisages strong networking & collaboration among various industries, research labs, and universities in India and abroad to carry out cutting edge research in the area of automotive research and tribology along with offering Post Graduate programs. 

A unique mandate given to CART at the time of its establishment is that one-third of its faculty would be adjunct faculty with current industry affiliation. This is likely to give a very different flavor to the post-graduate programs that would be offered by the centre.

Speaking on the occasion of CART’s inauguration, Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said: “Electric vehicles are going to become a mainstream mode of transport, not just in India, but worldwide, in the next 5-7 years. IIT Delhi is in the process of building a world-class center in this very important area, which will not only help the country transition to more environmentally friendly transport options but will also play a role at the global level by contributing to these technologies.”  

Prof B K Panigrahi from Dept. of Electrical Engineering, who has been appointed as CART’s first Head, said: “The prime focus of CART is to carry out interdisciplinary research in EVs and its associated areas. We will strive hard to have collaborative research among academia and industry for the benefit of the present and future societal needs.”