Yali: IIT Madras Incubated Mobility Marvel For Wheelchair Users

Tell My Story

How about a stunning contemporary outdoor electric vehicle for wheelchair users that the differently abled community would love to flaunt just like any abled person? Well that’s exactly what “Yali”, the vehicle being incubated and developed at the IIT Madras Research Park promises.

With all four sides covered like a car “Yali” turns heads and is a traffic stopper as it moves around for trial runs on the IIT Madras Research Park campus. “It looks like a car in the front, as it turns it looks like a boat sailing, it’s cute and I love it” said Revathi a techie. “I am glad this level of care is being taken. The differently abled deserve the best. I’d love to drive this vehicle” said Karthik, a Digital Marketing professional.

It’s actually a battery operated three wheeler with a handle bar. A patented innovation allows the user’s personal wheelchair to be seamlessly docked in safely. Its remote operated pneumatic system lowers the vehicle closer to the ground and opens the ramp in seconds making wheeling in and wheeling out of the personal wheelchair easy, quick and independent. The variants of this vehicle can run from 50 to 80 KM on a single charge.

Sakthivel Thayappahn the Co-founder who has been working on the model for four years told tellmystory.in “We saw several vehicles designed for the differently abled poor in appeal. We wanted to make this an aspirational vehicle that any differently abled would want to buy. We have made this safe”.

Incubated by the IIT Madras Research Park, the vehicle will undergo a series of refinement before obtaining certification and mass production. “We expect the vehicle to be ready for sale in a year. We are happy already many are showing interest to book” shared Mr Thayappahn.

As part of the trial run these vehicles will soon be deployed on IITs for wheelchair users to move around on their campuses.