How YouTuber helped a Pune teen make e-bike from scratch

While most teens spend time on gaming or social media, 15-year-old Rahul Pataskar, from Pimpri-Chinchwad, is devoting his time to create an electric bike from scratch. Now, the Class 12 students aims to create an electric car after completing his mechanical engineering degree.

A YouTuber making an electric bike caught the fancy of Pataskar, who is a student of International institute of Management Science, Elpro International, Chinchwad. He only took help of YouTube videos to gain knowledge about making an e-bike.

Accelerating the notion

Pataskar is a curious soul. “I have been cultivating ideas on how to make an e-bike, since I was in Class 9. Videos on YouTube helped me a lot. I also learned the auto cad software to make three dimensional designs. Before that, I would make sketches on paper to visualise how the e-bike would look,”says Pataskar who also runs a YouTube channel which gives information on electronic gadgets.

It takes ₹40,000 for Pataskar to make the e-bike.

The lockdown effect

“While most of peers sulked during the lockdown, I chose to take a positive outlook. The lockdown gave me time to focus on the e-bike as well as my studies. I was off social media so that I could concentrate on making the e-bike. Initially, my friends were not confident about this project, however, they were surprised to see the final result,” says Pataskar.

The challenge

“The biggest challenge was to solve the technical issues of motor alignment, chain and sprocket which took a lot of time. Since my father has a factory of manufacturing LPG road tankers, it helped me to make the body of an e-bike,” added Pataskar.

Senior police inspector, Rajendra Nikalje, MIDC Bhosari police station who has used the bike said, “It is a very good initiative and a step in the right direction as it is a non polluting vehicle. I hope more youngsters like Pataskar take interest in making innovative things.”

Tulsiram Shinde traffic police from Spine Road, Bhosari said who also used the bike said, “With fuel prices increasing every day, we all should promote e-bikes. Pataskar has done a very good job, I wish he makes more such two-wheelers.”

E-bike specifications

Vehicle type: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV)

Engine type: Motor

Motor type: Brushless DC (BLDC motor)

Drive Type: Chain

Battery Type: Dry lead acid battery

Top speed: Upto 45 km/hr

Body: Acrylic fibre