TVS Motor gets patent for rear fuel tank in scooters

Chennai-based two-wheeler major TVS Motor has been granted a patent for the rear fuel tank for scooters, an innovation it spearheaded in the industry, to help riders easily perform refuelling without having to open the seat.

The company is one of the auto firms that introduced the rear fuel tank for scooters with external filler cap in brands such as Wego, Jupiter and NTorq, bringing innovation to the conventional way of placing the fuel tank beneath the seat. Apart from TVS Motor, Hero Motocorp also produces scooters with rear fuel tank.

TVS filed the applicaton way back in 2009 seeking patent protection for its invention and claiming that the objective was to provide a fuel tank for a scooter-type motor cycle which will facilitate higher ground clearance and a lockable cap exposed outside to facilitate easy filling.

The Chennai patent office on Wednesday granted the patent to TVS Motor after being satisfied with the company’s claims regarding the invention.

According to a patent document, TVS Motor claimed that the ‘invention’ would resolve many of the issues related to traditional fuel tanks of scooters. The company pointed out that in many scooters, in order to efficiently exploit the available space, the fuel tank’s size and shape are made suitable to the vehicle layout requirements.

Typically, in many of the scooters, the fuel tank has been provided directly below the seat. In such vehicles, the utility box would also be located below the seat. Since the utility box is below the seat, a lock is provided to open the seat that is hinged in the front, to access the utility box as well as the fuel tank. Every time the rider has to open the seat for fuel refilling which can be done only by getting down off the vehicle.

Scooter sales of TVS Motor grew by 2% from 95,879 units in May 2018 to 98,202 units in May 2019.

The company, a frontrunner in early technological intiatives, had recently revealed that it would invest Rs 650 crore in the current financial year towards BS-VI technology, new produts and capacity expansion. Though scooter segment had seen a decline in its sales last fiscal, the company views it as a temporary setback and expects to see strong revival going forward. The company has also plans to introduce an electric vehicle (EV) in the current fiscal.

TVS Motor had registered a revenue growth of 19.3%, increasing from Rs 15,274.4 crore to Rs 18,217.5 crore for the fiscal ended March 2019, while PAT for the year stood at `670.1 crore against Rs 662.6 crore.