Water, Not More Fuel: How Mumbai’s Quidsaver Is Helping India’s Engines Burn Cleaner with Patented HOPE Technology
India’s engines are not going anywhere soon. Millions of cars, trucks, buses, diesel generators, farm pump sets and marine engines will keep running on petrol and diesel for years to come, even as the country moves toward cleaner energy. The real question is how to make them run better today. Mumbai-based startup Quidsaver Private Limited believes it has a practical answer, and it begins with something as ordinary as water.
The company’s flagship innovation, HOPE (Hydro-Oxygen Performance Enhancer), has been granted Indian Patent No. 595077 and is being pursued internationally through a PCT application published as WO 2025/248556. It is a compact, retrofittable device designed to improve combustion in internal combustion engines, reducing fuel consumption and emissions without any modification to the engine itself.
A Problem Measured in Millions of Tonnes
India consumes roughly 19.72 million metric tonnes of fuel every day across transport, power generation, agriculture and marine sectors. A significant share of that fuel is never fully burned. Incomplete combustion wastes money, leaves carbon deposits inside engines and releases CO₂, carbon monoxide and particulates into the air.
Existing solutions each carry a compromise. Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles depend on high-pressure storage and costly infrastructure. Fuel additives deliver inconsistent results and become a recurring expense. Carbon capture systems are complex and impractical at the engine level. HOPE was designed to fill the gap between these options.
How HOPE Works
At the heart of HOPE is an alkaline electrolysis cell. A stack of stainless-steel cathode, anode and neutral plates sits in an electrolyte solution and splits water into hydrogen and oxygen when current is applied. The gas passes through a water bubbler that scrubs it clean, then flows through a non-return valve into the engine’s air filter. From there, the engine’s own suction stroke draws it into the combustion chamber, where it helps the primary fuel burn more completely.
Three design principles set the system apart:
1. Zero Hydrogen Storage – Gas is produced only while the engine runs and is consumed instantly. Nothing is stored under pressure, removing the single biggest safety concern associated with hydrogen technology.
2. Built-In Thermal Management – A closed-loop refrigerant coil and Peltier cooling fans hold the electrolysis bowl at 45–60°C during continuous operation, compared with 70–75°C without the coil, protecting the electrolyte, electrodes and seals over long duty cycles.
3. Layered Safety – The bubbler arrests any backfire before it can reach the cell, the non-return valve ensures one-way flow, and gas generation stops automatically the moment the ignition is switched off.
HOPE draws power at 12–48V DC from a vehicle’s battery and alternator, or through an SMPS from mains supply in stationary generator applications, making it adaptable from passenger cars to heavy commercial engines and industrial gensets.
Encouraging Results from Early Trials
Preliminary in-house trials have produced promising numbers. On a 125 KVA diesel generator, fuel consumption over one hour fell from 6 litres to 5 litres with HOPE active, a saving of approximately 16 percent. Comparative trials on a 500 KVA generator recorded lower diesel consumption across every load band tested.
The company is clear about what comes next. Independent certification through ARAI/ICAT is its immediate priority, so that customers, regulators and investors can rely on third-party performance and emissions data rather than in-house figures alone.
Built on Energy-Audit Expertise
HOPE was co-invented by Ms. Tanvi Ashutosh Thakur and Engr. Ashutosh Vishwanath Thakur, the directors of Quidsaver Private Limited. Engr. Thakur is a BEE-certified Energy Auditor whose firm, Saur Energenex & Energy Solutions, conducts energy audits for MHADA pumping stations and municipal housing complexes across Mumbai. That daily exposure to diesel-backed pumping and power systems shaped HOPE’s focus on practical, cost-saving retrofits.
Quidsaver, incorporated in 2023, holds DPIIT Startup India recognition and Udyam (MSME) registration. Its roadmap covers certified testing, design-for-manufacture, pilot deployments on generators, vehicles and pumping stations, and national-phase patent filings in markets including the USA, Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa and Australia.
A Message for India’s Engine Economy
“India cannot replace every engine overnight, but we can make every engine work smarter,” says Engr. Ashutosh Vishwanath Thakur. “HOPE gives fleet owners, housing societies and industries a safe, affordable way to save fuel and cut emissions using the engines they already own.”
The initiative aligns with Make in India, Startup Maharashtra and Atmanirbhar Bharat, combining domestic manufacturing potential with an exportable clean-technology asset.
“Hydrogen should not remain a distant promise,” he adds. “With HOPE, it is already at work inside the engine, safely and on demand.”
