Chennai, Dec 9 (FN Agency) The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-Madras) on Monday launched major initiatives towards India achieving its 100% Zero Emission Truck (ZET) penetration by the year 2050. The objective is to accelerate adoption of ZETs like Electric Trucks in India as despite trucks representing only 5% of the vehicle fleet, they consume nearly 65% of diesel, leading to substantial pollution and fuel consumption costs, a release from IIT-Madras said. The Centre of Excellence for Zero Emission Trucking (CoEZET) at IIT Madras launched two major projects during ‘Get ZET – Shifting Gears to Zero Emission Trucking’ held at IIT Madras Research Park today. They included Project Driver Rating Application (DRA), which is an AI-driven mobile app to assess truck driving behaviour on safety and energy efficiency.
It will also encourage and inculcate safe and efficient driving behaviour among truck drivers. Safety and energy efficiency are vital to realise benefits and faster adoption of ZETs. The mobile app will include anticipative alerts designed to inform drivers of inadequate driving behaviour relative to the static context of road infrastructure and enrol drivers of diesel trucks, which are operating in long distances of minimum of 4,000 km per month, holding Project Outreach programmes to generate awareness about ZETs among the truck drivers and operators and end users including drivers, helpers, mechanics, fuel pump operators, body fabricators, and small fleet operators.