...whether the supposed millions of rupees being put into the projects by teams is even worth it. Apart from the 'experience' and all this hogwash that we have been flagrantly believing in.
Whether the vehicles thus produced are even road-worthy, marketable, a long-term practical solution, or even slightly cost-effective...
So, without ado, let us first rule out the 'vehicles' from the prototype category. These are supposedly futuristic concepts with stellar mileages, but fact of today's life is that you don't go to the dentist in a coffin that is as comfortable as an iron maiden, even if it has got feminine curves on the outside.
Urban concept vehicles are slightly more car-ish, and with better fuel economies than today's production cars. But that doesn't answer the question of them being cost effective, does it? Student teams have been looking for money, technical support, material et al of between o.4 million to around 1.4 million (PKR).
The second fact of today's life is that you get a second-hand Mehran, not exactly good-looking but the steed for a big portion of the portion of people with cars, for less than 0.4 million. But, does it boast of the high mileages the students promise...no! But keep in mind that the third fact of life is that concentrating very heavily on when to turn the engine on or off is the last thing you want when navigating on Pakistani roads. And so, it is a simply a comparison of the relative driver comfort, mileages and initial costs between the Shell Eco Marathon vehicles and those already on the road today.
On the testimony of the results from previous years, working on such vehicles is well worth the effort!
However, the key to this is striking a balance. While there is nothing wrong with putting in effort for the greater good, if costs of such projects exceed the six digit mark, then one is led into thinking if THAT is worth a try too?
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