Driving has been an integral part of Dilip Chitre's life. After all when his father died, driving autos for 14 hours a day kept the family afloat.
In time, the Mumbai resident opened his own driving school, but even as he saw vehicles plying on petrol and diesel, he always wondered if there was an eco-friendly alternative that he could switch to.
"Back then, whenever prices of petrol would go up, my fellow drivers would say, 'Dhandha kaise chalega (how will we run our business)?' But I'd think 'Does no one care we're running out of fuel?'" Chitre told Humans of Bombay.
He spent months thinking of solution, till one day, looking down at his watch, it struck him -- "If a watch can last years on the same battery, why can't cars?"
At 41, Chitre began building his own battery-powered auto. It took him eight years to perfect it.
"Every day after work, I'd spend hours on it... my son would help me. And eight years later, it was finally ready for the road," Chitre said.
"People were fascinated. I'd get requests to ride the auto."
Chitre wanted to create more battery-powered autos and even approached different organisations but did not hear back from them.
Read more: This 74-year-old former English lecturer now drives an auto to make ends meet
Years later, he stumbled on solar power and he decided to create solar-powered autos. He began with his home though and found that he ended up saving a lot on electricity bills.
So, in 2016, he began to try and convert his fuel-driven van to run on solar power. "It was ready to drive in a few months and has now covered more than 4,000 km without any jolts," Chitre said.
"I even built an e-rickshaw, and just days ago, introduced a solar-powered scooter to the streets."
Talking about how his innovations help conserve energy, Chitre said he was happy to do his part. "Over the years, I have realised that people in small towns and villages are still clueless about saving energy. I am doing my best to introduce solar power to them."
(Moneycontrol couldn't independently confirm the news development)
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