Students at Bheri Technical Institute (BTI) in Nepalgunj have successfully developed and test-drove on Wednesday a vehicle named 'Niful' that runs on solar power and batteries. A team of students studying for the Diploma in Electrical Engineering at BTI developed the three-wheeler that uses two batteries and a solar panel to operate the engine. The team including Bharat KC, Bijay KC, Ramesh Giri, Himal Swar and Keshab Mahat successfully developed the vehicle in a two-month period. Ramesh Giri, after successfully test-driving the vehicle, said it can run on either solar or battery. "This is new technology for our country," he claimed. According to him, Niful is both noise- and pollution-free and can run at speeds of up to 25 kilometer per hour. Meanwhile, the BTI team claimed that the vehicle would yield mileage of 100 kilometers with a single battery. "We would work on a more sophisticated vehicle than this if the government lends a hand," said Bharat KC. The vehicle that weighs 200 kilograms was put together at a cost of Rs 200,000 contributed jointly by BTI and students.