Manipur techie makes electric scooter out of a vintage Bajaj-150

Asem Bhakta Singh, Special Correspondent North East

Imphal: (Waari Singbul Network) A young engineering student from Imphal earns praises after he turned a vintage Bajaj-150 scooter into an eco-friendly electric vehicle.
Three years back, Albert Sarangthem , who is currently pursuing his fifth semester in computer engineering in Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT), also did a similar makeover on a bike.
Albert brand-named both e-vehicles as ‘Samadon’ a divine flying horse in Meitie mythology. He christened his e-bike as ‘Samadon EV I’ and candy red e-scooter as ‘Samadon EV II’.
Images and reels of Albert with his Samadon EV II went viral on social networking sites with people showering applauses to his surprising skills.
For a single electric charge which takes around 2 and a half hours, Samadon EV II runs up to 50 kms .
A resident of Wangkhei Thambalkhong in Imphal East district, Albert said the Bajaj-150 scooter was originally driven by his late maternal grandfather in the early seventies, about five decades ago.
“The scooter was then used by one of my maternal uncles before it was abandoned and got rusted at his house from where I took 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 like engine, carburetor and other co-related parts and replace with motor, speed controller, and battery and other interrelated parts.
Albert, nevertheless, express disappointment over the non-availability of key part in Imphal market and lack of mechanical tools culminating him to take take a whooping eight months to bring out his Samadon EV II .
“ I purchased major parts like motor, battery and speed controller for retrofitting my scooter, and because to the ongoing ethnic conflict, these parts reached me very late,” he lamented
Albert said he learnt his skills through internet resources coupled with the mechanism of e-rickshaw he witnessed in workshops in Imphal.
He stepped into his electric vehicle venture and achieved with a flying start with his Samadon EV I in 2021.
In recognition of Albert’s extraordinary mechanical talents in bringing out his Samadon EV 1, and as a token of appreciation, transport minister Khashim Vashum gave him certain monetary reward .
Albert also received a certificate of appreciation for “his effort, and innovative work in building a model electric bike” from his engineering institute 2022.
A senior official in Manipur transport department said that any person can take up such makeover and transformation of vehicle after obtaining ‘Type approval’ from the government.