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EVOMO RESEARCH & ADVANCEMENTS PVT. LTD.
Saavaj from Evomo is a sustainable mobility for Rural Poor. Savaj literally means lion in Gujarati, here it is a robust, spacious, ultra low cost, off road rural utility vehicle (RUV). Evomo has developed a proprietary chassis design, The ESF (EVOMO Space Frame) which makes it cheaper to fabricate at small workshops as well as making it structurally stronger than any other existing vehicles existing in the market aimed to address issues of rural transportation. It is conceived on the concept of co-creating a product, the point of sale dealer would also be adding value to the product by customized paint-job or adding other accessories designed, thus increasing employment opportunities and increases the stake of the dealer also providing the option of personal customization.
It is so designed that the engine acts as a power take-off making it versatile to be used as a farm pump, a generator or a cement mixer which makes it a suitable option for uses across sectors. Savaj from EVOMO would be a patented (patents pending) and certified automotive design that seeks to empower rural India through safe, sustainable and economical modes of transport and commutation.
In 2008, the World Bank ranked transport as the ultimate enabler in development work. In India alone, 49% of villages lack access to all-weather roads. Up to 60% of people across the developing world countries live around 8km from a healthcare facility.
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Lack of safe, legal and economical transportation in Rural India and other developing regions around the world.
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Transport is the biggest enabler of socio-economic development.
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The most Rural population is underserved by traditional automobile manufacturers.
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The rural poor resort to unsafe means of transport like Jugaad or Chakkada.
Against all these issues, EVOMO's SAAVAJ took shape to bring about a change.
Form development and design iteration process courtesy: Prashant Makwana
Ergonomics and structural proportions : Beta Version
Distributed Manufacturing Model
Evomo aims at a disruptive system of distributed manufacturing, unlike the traditional automobile manufacturing system. We ship vehicle kits to franchised micro-factories for assembly, and these factories become repair and alteration shops once local markets are saturated. Modern digital fabrication (specifically, the laser cutter) has made distributed manufacturing a viable option for semi-automated industries. Like McDonald's, our headquarters coordinates product development, supply chains, quality management, and training/equipping our franchise personnel in micro-factories throughout India—and, soon, Africa and the rest of the world.
Evomo's SAAVAJ is conceived as the Ford Model T for over a billion people who have no access to modern transportation : an ultra-low cost and modular utility vehicle that is optimized for poorly maintained roads.
The SAAVAJ Alpha prototype on its first trial run.
The first SAAVAJ prototype has been completed and tested in various conditions, and we are working on the production version. We received LOIs to sell 7400 units from potential dealers worldwide, and from potential franchisees who would manufacture 1800 units in the first year.
During a road show at Pushkar Cattle Fair several famers in Rajasthan were so eager to purchase the SAAVAJ, which is the price of their annual salary, that they approached our team with bags of cash. There were many such instances and stories which reinforced our belief that we are on the right track and have the potential to affect change.
Design Variants & the production model
courtesy: Prashant Makwana
EVOMO was started to bring about a change and improve life in rural areas, not just in India but across the developing world.
I would attribute a lot of personal growth to EVOMO, here I adorned multiple hats of a designer, welder, fabricator, business analyst, researcher, marketing manager, production planner etc. The knowledge and experience I derived out of this have been useful wherever I have worked since. Though EVOMO did not achieve the financial success it deserved but we vowed to come back together sometime in the future to make EVOMO a success story it deserves.
While working on EVOMO I also understood the role technology can play in social change, I understood that for any product to work, it's not just about the product design and technology but also whether it understands the eco-system and imbibes the philosophy of empathy towards the user and the segment. For us, it was how we engaged with the community and society, our business model was not based just on profits but the core values of empathy and a desire to uplift rural communities with the help of their involvement, where local mechanics and industry also flourish, to deliver a product which is as much the communities as ours. This was the reason why we chose an engine which is used in over 60 countries and is serviceable by makeshift auto-repair shops - that is why the distributed manufacturing became appealing and viable.
The Team
Evomo is the hard work of a group of automobile enthusiasts who also happen to be engineers, designers and business managers. It has been both critically and acdemically acclaimed and has been featured in various publications and media across the world including the Business Standard, The Guardian and the BBC. It also won the Economic Times Power of Ideas Award in 2012-13.
Abhinav Kumar (co-founder): Worked with Automotive Industry in Different R&D positions. B.Tech Mechanical Engineering GGSIP University, Delhi
Tushar Jain (co-founder): Has worked as a freelance Architect and Designer. Has an acumen for sustainable Design, strategy and structural fabrication. PGDPD, NID Ahmedabad.
Anna Waldman Brown (co-founder): MIT physics graduate and Fulbright fellow who worked with the world’s largest distributed manufacturing network of Fab Labs.
Nirmit Parikh: Serial entrepreneur , had previously founded Incone Technologies and Cruxbox(Aqquired by Kno, Intel Corp. ), Director, Data Analytics-World Ahead, Intel Corp.
Prashant Makwana: Has worked as a freelance designer and artist with various print and sculpture projects. BFA, MS University Baroda.
Vishisht Dhingra: Has lead student racecar teams for various competitions in India and South Africa, is a professional rally driver and Formula 1 Marshal.
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