Vega’s super electric car to hit the roads next month for its first test drive
Sri Lankan Vega’s first super electric car after 11 months of production is about to hit the roads in the latter part of April for its first test drive, Vega car Project Manager Beshan Kulapala told the Business Times on a telephone call interview last week.
Car being assembled.s
Technology being one of the key aspect for a local company to come up with a marvelous project of this nature, Vega is about to unveil an outstanding Sri Lankan innovation to the world soon, he added.
Mr. Kulapala said, “Sri Lanka’s first Vega super electric car is a prototype model which is still under design and manufacture. We are hoping for a test drive in the latter part of April. Once the test drive becomes successful the launch will be in December this year as planned.” The car can speed up from zero to 100 km per hour within four seconds while the maximum speed of the car is 240 km per hour. The fully electric car takes 20 minutes to charge and once charged it can travel for upto 240 km, he noted.
The charger used is a ‘Super Charger’ typically derived from the Japanese term ‘Chademo’ which is Japanese technology. The predicted lifetime of the battery is 12 to 15 years with better electronics and software. The battery used in the car is one of the latest cutting edge technologies of Lithium Ferrous Phosphate. Also the car has a three phase alternating current motor controller with a power of 150 kilowatts.
He also noted that there is a niche market for hand-made cars worldwide.
There are only a few companies that have manufactured around 25 to 30 hand-made cars per year. The Vega car is mainly manufactured for commercial purposes but it could also be used for racing purposes. Interestingly Vega is a customized vehicle which also has the feature of downloading applications to a smartphone device from the car itself.
Mr. Kulapala also noted that the total cost of production of the first prototype model is around Rs. 40 million which will not become the price of the car once all certification and approvals are done. It will definitely be less than that.
Dhash Gunaratne, Head of Styling of the Vega project also told the Business Times that the exterior model of the Vega car came up in his mind after being inspired by a Sri Lankan Kandyan dancer — a sophisticated and muscular model which gives the car a strong and rich look.
The body panel of the car is made of Carbon Fibre which is similar to fibre-glass. Carbon Fibre is a huge industry with modern technology.
Aerodynamic tests have already been carried out on the design of the car. The weight of the car is 1400 kg, he added.