The world is moving towards a ‘ Net Zero Carbon Footprint’ to cut Greenhouse gas emissions near to zero, thand e need for green technology is increasing with different countries working on alternate sources of energy. We have seen a paradigm shift in the adoption of solar power, wind energy, and nuclear energy in power generation as an alternative to thermal power.
The automobile sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and there is a need for vehicles that work on alternative energy sources. The use of Electric Vehicles is one of the emerging technologies in the quest for a ‘Net Zero Carbon Footprint’. With the necessary push given by Hon’ble Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari Ji, he stated recently that the number of electric vehicles in India will touch 3 crores in 2 years.
To solve the problems of the EV industry through Data and AI, WUElev8 – Where yoU Elevate in association with E-Cell, IIIT-Delhi invited the young talent, and startups to showcase their talent at the ‘DecodEV’ hackathon on 10th-11th September 2022 at IIIT-Delhi. This hackathon aimed to solve the problems of the EV Industry through Data and AI and we were able to provide 25+ solutions out of which 10+ ideas are expected to be incubated. The hackathon prize money was INR 2.5 lacs with an Electric Scooter as a special prize.
The hackathon was sponsored by Telio EV, Hayasa E-mobility, and Bluwheelz supported by the Center for sustainable mobility. Electric One was the Green Partner for this hackathon and has sponsored an ‘Electric Scooter’ for the winning team. Being one of the biggest EV hackathons, 150+ participants from 30+ engineering colleges across India, and 50+ guests joined including investors, various EV industry leaders, and academicians attending the event. 
The hackathon is covered by ‘Parliamentarian’ magazine, which is read by the central and state government policymakers across India and other media partners like Startup Story, Battery Business, Top Drive, Rickshaws 360, E-Vehicle Info, and Flying Bees.
Universities like IIIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, NIT Rourkela, Bennett University, VIT, GIET University, IIMT, etc. are academic partners in the hackathon.
Mr. Vinit Goenka, Spokesperson BJP Delhi felicitated the closing ceremony as the honorable chief guest who encouraged the participants with his inspirational keynote, laying the importance of innovation. He said: “While we develop innovative solutions we need to take care of real human problems and adaptability, the solution will give, an innovative solution may not at times be adaptable by humans.” He shared his experience in working with CRIS as a Member of, Governing Council and how innovation is being brought in different sectors in India. He encouraged all the students, and entrepreneurs to keep solving the problems with innovative solutions and thanked the organizers for hosting a successful event.
The hackathon was inaugurated by Mr. Aditya Arora, CEO of Faad Network who mentioned the importance of hackathons in his keynote. He said, “Hackathons are something where you get prepared to deal with much bigger challenges in life when you are into entrepreneurship”, he mentioned how he participated in various hackathons and startup events in his college days and how that helped him lead a fast-growing Angel Investment Network at an age of 25. 
The event also involved multiple panel discussions moderated by WUElev8’s Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Sunil Kumar where he discussed with the industry experts on EV policy and Technological challenges. The insights shared by Industry experts were highly fruitful for the participants.
The hackathon was graced by guests like Mr. Vineet Goenka, Spokesperson, BJP, Mr. Aditya Arora, CEO, Faad Network, Dr. Lalit Singh, Chief Growth Officer, TelioEV, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Bansal, CTO, TelioEV, Mr. Amit Das, CEO, Electric One, Mr. Dhiraj Tripathi, COO, Electric One, Mr. Charanpreet Singh Sethi, CEO, Bluwheelz, Mr. Pradeep Motwani, CEO, Hayasa E-mobility, Mr. Raghav Kumar Sharma, Co-founder & Director, Hayasa E-mobility, Mr. Alok Nikhil Jha, Industry Outreach, IIIT Delhi, Dr. Ramesh Singh, Faculty In-charge, KIET E-Mobility, Centre of Excellence, Dr. Sonal Kukreja, Associate Professor, Bennett University, Dr. Indrajeet Singh, Associate Professor, Bennett University, Mr. Ankit Singh, CEO i-Elektrik, Mr. Abhishek Gulia, VP – Startup Portfolio Management, Agility Ventures, Mr. Sachin Vyas, Founder & ex-CEO at AugmentIQ Data Sciences (acquired by LTI), Ex-CTO High Mark (acquired by CRIF), Mr. Saurabh Trivedi, Angel Investor, Mr. Yash Biyani, Founder, Sector 7 and mentors from organisations like Amazon & Microsoft.
The First prize was won by a team from KIET Ghaziabad with prize money of INR 125000. They built a solution for increasing the driving range of the vehicle by integrating the power source into the vehicle. This source will charge our vehicle while driving with the help of stress, strain, pressure, or vibrations generated by the vehicle, by integrating piezoelectric material into the vehicle can increase the driving range as when we apply pressure or force on this material they generate a voltage which can be stored in the battery and can increase the range of the vehicle.
The Second prize was won by a team from NIT Rourkela with prize money of INR 75000. The product was focused on reducing the burning of EVs by building a smart Thermal Management System which predicts battery anomalies that may lead to battery failure by monitoring multiple temperature points over the battery pack using AI and deploying preventive measures.
The Third prize was won by a team from IIIT Delhi with prize money of INR 50000. The team built an all-in-one AI-based application that helps in locating the charging stations near a person and also helps in monitoring the battery health system of an electric vehicle.
The Special prize, which was an Electric Scooter from Electric One was won by a team of professionals from HCL. They built a solution around predictive maintenance of Electric Vehicles with Risk calculation using prediction of RUL (Remaining Useful Life) of Battery and SoH (State of Health) of Battery. Removing the dependency on the warranty of the battery for life cycle determination, and providing predictive maintenance using EV telemetry data.
Words by the Winning Team, “Huge thanks to WUElev8 and sponsors for providing a platform for young engineers to showcase their ideas.”
Words by Gold Sponsor, TelioEV, Co-founder & CTO, Mr. Mukesh Bansal, “Some discussions give you wisdom, some give you memories to cherish forever, and then some give you both!
I am thankful to the team of WUElev8 – Where yoU Elevate, Sunil Kumar, Rishab Ilwadi, and the team, for hosting me at the panel discussion and honoring me as a respectable speaker.”
Words by Green Partner, Electric One, Founder & CEO, Mr. Amit Das, “Great concepts from the students, incredible EV vibes all through information technology. Great work by WUElev8 – Where yoU Elevate. ”
WUElev8 Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rishab Ilwadi concluded the event by thanking the chief guest, sponsors, panelists, judges, mentors, collaborators, media partners, E-Cell IIIT-Delhi team, and WUElev8 team for their extraordinary support in organizing the hackathon successfully. He
concluded by laying down the WUElev8’s vision of “Democratising technology innovation in Indian Universities with WUElev8 being a bridge between Campus and Industry” and announced even bigger hackathons in near future. 
