[Nissan1180]

There have been quite a few good developments in the public transport systems of most Indian cities in the last decade. To list a few:

• JNNURM Low Floor buses deployed through a PPP mode.
• Metro Railway projects initiated in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bangalore, Hyderabad. Existing lines are being supplemented in Kolkata.
• Profusion of Cab Aggregator services like UBER, Ola, TFS etc.
• Introduction of A/C buses in the Metros and Tier -1 cities (Volvo/Tata Marcopolo etc.)
• BRTS Services have been extended to cover the entire stretch of roads in Ahmedabad.

These are welcome developments, and bring a semblance of civility to the use of public transport as a regular commuting medium. However, if we look at the developments closely, we'll find that these services are designed to take a passenger to a nodal point. In many places, the connectivity with the last mile is not facilitated.

Primitivity Personified
Passengers have to, still, rely on overloaded auto rickshaws and other vehicles that do not deserve to carry human lives. The following picture exemplifies this statement.

Where there are no Auto Rickshaws, a human powered vehicle is commonly evidenced. Although they are considered to be environment friendly, cycle rickshaws that ply on our roads have a design that dates back to the 1920s. In fact the term Rickshaw has been derived from the Japanese term jinriksha, which means hand-drawn cart.

A recent study conducted by IISC states approximately 6-8 Billion passenger-km/year in 6 million cycle rickshaws in India- this is a staggering number.

To give you a better picture of how this compares with other forms of transport-the Indian railways carried 8.4 Billion passengers and the passenger traffic at airports was only 0.167 billion!
It is surprising that this sector has remained untouched by technological developments for such a long time. Forget about reducing the stress on the rickshaw pullers, companies that manufacture the Rickshaw have not even added a gear shift mechanism till date on their mass produced models. As a result, Rickshaws remain an slow and exploitative means of transportation.


Rickshaws are still used in the first world countries, but in a more efficient and aesthetically appealing avatar...

A few of these were also introduced in Delhi for the commonwealth games in 2010.

Things have changed a lot since the beginning of 2013, when a remarkably basic and functional product began to appear on our roads- the E Rickshaw.

These vehicles have been popular in China for quite some time. There are two versions- the vehicle depicted above is the passenger version. There is another version designed to carry a payload of about 0.4 Tons.

As simple as it gets

Mechanically, there are very few automobiles that are as basic as this one. A look at the specifications will reveal a lot:

Let us look at each element of the vehicle:

• Construction

The frame is made of steel tubes and sheets welded manually. Fit and finish do not conform to any standards. Paint quality is questionable, but the strength of the sheet is sufficient to prevent a structural collapse.

• Power Source

Most models use a parallel connection of 4 batteries rated at 12 V each. A few models designed for higher payloads (~1000Kg) have 5 batteries to support the higher power requirements.

• Motor

A 48 V Brushless DC motor is common.

• Control Mechanism

The speed of the motor is controlled through a electronic speed controller (similar to the regulator of your ceiling fan). The device is designed to regulate the current to the motor according to the inputs given by the driver using the throttle switch.

• Drivetrain

A small differential transfer the power to the rear wheels. The drive train connected to the motor is depicted in the following picture:

• Brakes

Drum brakes are mostly used. An important improvement has been the inclusion of a handbrake.

• Suspension, Wheels and Tires

The vehicle is suspended over leaf springs that are simply too stiff when the vehicle is not loaded. The handlebar is supported by two gas filled shock absorbers.

Wheels look like cheaply made alloys and the tires appear to have been sourced from a toy bicycle. This is one area where a lot of improvement is needed to make this product economically viable in the long run. The tires wear out very fast (< 10000 km).

• 'Features'

You get an instrument cluster containing a speedometer, odometer and a battery level indicator. Some models come with a 'curtain' for rain protection and a flat acrylic sheet that serves as a shield for the driver.


The Silent Revolution


The mechanicals of the vehicle fit into a box that can be easily transported by a logistics company. The entire setup is very simple and low tech.

This is the most important attribute of the product. The simplicity has enabled more than 40 companies in India to manufacture the vehicle in different parts of the country.
Every model is alike because the design has been sourced from the same component suppliers in China. The infrastructure requirements for assembling the product are minimal- a few skilled technicians and basic welding/painting tools will suffice. Many entrepreneurs from rural India have started assembly stations cum dealerships.

The proliferation of entrepreneurs has created employment, but it has also fragmented the distribution chain. The result is reflected in the prices quoted by different manufacturers- it can vary from Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 120,000/-, depending on the vendor and the state in which you are located.


In the town where I am posted, 3 'factories' have come up in the last 10 months. These are hole in the wall workshops that import the parts from China and then sell the assembled vehicle locally.

They have received an encouraging response- most of the routes supported by Auto Rickshaws have been taken over by the electric vehicles. Owners say that the lower running costs and higher space (compared to the Autorickshaw) are the main factors driving this change. The results are most visible in the congested parts of the area- pollution has significantly reduced.

A major socio-economic change has been facilitated by this industry. Cycle rickshaw pullers, who did not have the wherewithal to invest in their own vehicle, have been extended credit by PSU banks. They do not have to depend on the cartelized rickshaw operators anymore.


The motivation behind this article


The main intention was to catalogue the development of this industry on this forum. Unlike traditional automobile manufacturing, the e-rickshaw assembling business has exemplified two very interesting points:

• Assembly from kits can be done by Small Scale Industries. The distributed production model reduces logistical difficulties and encourages rural entrepreneurship.
  
• Simplicity is timeless- I am sure that even 10 years down the line, the e-rickshaw will retain the same basics because they do their job well.

It is true that the e-rickshaw needs to be improved - seatbelts should be provided for all passengers, an enclosed passenger compartment needs to be constructed and the dynamics need to be sorted out.

However, even in its present form, the e-rickshaw has emerged as a deserving substitute to the other three wheelers that are serving the country at the moment.

Request to the moderators: All the pictures included in this post have been sourced from the supplier media sites. I have not clicked any picture personally. If any image violates the policies of this forum, it can be removed.

[ZedMae]

Excellent report. I wonder if there are any regulatory hurdles for getting these on road - at least in the metro/ tier 1 cities.

Also, are these replacing the cycle rickshaws or the auto rickshaws as well (you have indicated so - but just wanted to confirm)? It is quite interesting to note that the auto rickshaw drivers are open to this change and not resistant.

If the design can be worked upon (like the international one that you showed), then it should surely draw in more people and thereby aiding in reducing air pollution.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

It is true that the e-rickshaw needs to be improved - seatbelts should be provided for all passengers, an enclosed passenger compartment needs to be constructed and the dynamics need to be sorted out.

However, even in its present form, the e-rickshaw has emerged as a deserving substitute to the other three wheelers that are serving the country at the moment.

Earlier cycle rickshaws kept off the main arterial roads. Now these vehicles ply on main roads and they barely keep pace with traffic. If they were atleast as fast as auto rickshaws, that would be nice.

But my limited experience during a week's stay in delhi seemed to indicate that they aren't that quick and bog down traffic because (surprise!) even these are heavily loaded!

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

It is true that the e-rickshaw needs to be improved - seatbelts should be provided for all passengers, an enclosed passenger compartment needs to be constructed and the dynamics need to be sorted out.

However, even in its present form, the e-rickshaw has emerged as a deserving substitute to the other three wheelers that are serving the country at the moment.

Attachment 1334176

Request to the moderators: All the pictures included in this post have been sourced from the supplier media sites. I have not clicked any picture personally. If any image violates the policies of this forum, it can be removed.

Not quoting the full post for readability. I beg to disagree here. They are a nuisance. Not only have they taken daily living from much more hardworking pedal rickshaws but they also steal electricity from power poles. They are driven rashly and block up traffic on the main roads since they aren't as fast as the driver driving seems to think.

The biggest concern to me is that without a waste management policy in place, all those discarded batteries will end in the unorganized sector where they will not only pollute the ground with toxic chemicals once they are taken apart, worse still the chemical will slowly find a way to mix with ground water making it toxic. Unless our government plan a comprehensive policy governing these rickshaws from manufacture to disposal, they remain a big big threat.

[Nissan1180]

The numbers mentioned are available in an open source publication by IISC-just google the words erickshaw and Research and you'll get the link.
I agree that the unregulated manufacturing is dangerous. It can be a compromise on safety if the batteries are not from a reputed make.
However, I think that these industries have just started functioning-it remains to be seen if they make something better or fade away the HM way.
Battery disposal is a big concern, but there are quite a few companies that are already into the business of responsible recycling.
I think I have mistakenly posted the same thing twice in the same thread-my device is not very user friendly.

[da_lowrider]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

A recent study conducted by IISC states that approximately 6-8 Billion Indians travel in 6 million cycle rickshaws in India- this is a staggering number.
To give you a better picture of how this compares with other forms of transport-the Indian railways carried 8.4 Billon passengers and the passenger traffic at airports was only 0.167 billion!

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

The numbers mentioned are available in an open source publication by IISC-just google the words erickshaw and Research and you'll get the link.

Hi Nissan1180, I don't mean any offence at all, but the reason why I questioned your post was because the numbers appeared to be pretty unrealistic at first glance. There is a pretty critical error in your post, if you read the original journal article by Anil K. Rajvanshi, you will notice that the figures being discussed are not 6-8 billion passengers but rather 6-8 billion passenger-km/year, this is a very different unit of measurement. It is used in transportation management & denotes the distance traveled by passengers on transit vehicles, & is calculated by multiplying the number of passengers transported by a mode of transit and the kilometers traveled.

The original article is - as you rightly pointed out - in the public domain. Sharing the link here for everyone's benefit:

http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/sep252002/703.pdf

WRT to figures about Indian Railways, since we have just the passenger-km/year data for cycle rickshaws, you would have to use the same parameter in the comparison. I could find data until 2010-11 for the same. The number reported in 2010-11 is 979 billion passenger-km. Here's the link to the same:

http://indianrailways.gov.in/railway...r_business.pdf

I would like to reiterate that I don't mean any offence whatsoever. Would request you to edit your original post or have the mods edit it.

Cheers!

[Nissan1180]

Thanks for this information. I read the article again and your explanation is correct. I have requested assistance to correct the post.

Originally Posted by ZedMae

Excellent report. I wonder if there are any regulatory hurdles for getting these on road - at least in the metro/ tier 1 cities.

Also, are these replacing the cycle rickshaws or the auto rickshaws as well (you have indicated so - but just wanted to confirm)? It is quite interesting to note that the auto rickshaw drivers are open to this change and not resistant.

If the design can be worked upon (like the international one that you showed), then it should surely draw in more people and thereby aiding in reducing air pollution.

I am posted in a rural area, hence the scenario here might differ from that in the metros.
Here, quite a few cycle rickshaw drivers have switched to the e-rickshaw. Banks have facilitated a loan in some cases. Auto drivers have come to accept the fact. Initially, there were a few skirmishes between the two sets of drivers.
In order to improve the design, the component suppliers have to invest a reasonable amount into the R&D of the product. That will definitely happen, because the technology is very basic. To differentiate themselves, they have to innovate.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

The biggest concern to me is that without a waste management policy in place, all those discarded batteries will end in the unorganized sector where they will not only pollute the ground....

Dear extreme_torque, while I respect your view do forgive my difference of opinion. Let's not bring up pollution only when it concerns the poor. I have just returned home from a 50 kms trip in a 215 bhp car - I wonder what contamination I have caused to the atmosphere with the car's exhaust. The land pollution issue (of batteries) is real but the employment and transportation for the weaker economic sections comes first. We already have a several million batteries running around in cars & trucks in India and we can't say that 25,000 more cannot be added when it serves the poor but 2.8 million more can be added (batteries I mean) each year when it comes to transportation for the better offs.

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

Thanks for this information. I read the article again and your explanation is correct. I have requested assistance to correct the post.

Nissan1180, thank you for this informative post and interesting photographs of the components. In our country with its crores of poor these are Indian solutions for an Indian problem and other than provide a mode of transport for the less privileged it provides employment to the whole supply chain. These simple solutions must be encouraged by the better heeled like us. Please share any more data and descriptions you may have. Regardless of billion or billion-kms the fact is rickshaws are a critical (and sadly ignored) component of our transportation system serving largely the weaker economic sections. Lovely thread. Best regards, Narayan

[mishraak]

Apart from manufacturing and disposal, there has to exist some traffic regulatory to monitor the plying of these vehicles. They have no respect whatsoever for traffic rules and don't have any road manners.

E-rickshaws involved in 36 accidents this year, traffic cops tell Delhi HC

Hit by an e-rickshaw, child slips out of mother’s arms into pan of boiling oil

Moreover these rickshaws have no unique identification, suppose you get hit by this vehicle, how are you going to catch him or file an FIR or bring the culprit to responsibility, you just cannot iterate that it was a "red/green colored rickshaw with Mayuri written at back".

I have been hit by such a vehicle in past, the driver was so drunk that it was pointless beating him as well. He was not even stopping. I had to pull the key out of the ignition to bring his vehicle to stop.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3321784

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/67695-need-advice-after-accident-27.html#post3321959

[Nissan1180]

Originally Posted by mishraak

Moreover these rickshaws have no unique identification, suppose you get hit by this vehicle, how are you going to catch him or file an FIR or bring the culprit to responsibility, you just cannot iterate that it was a "red/green colored rickshaw with Mayuri written at back".

I have been hit by such a vehicle in past, the driver was so drunk that it was pointless beating him as well. He was not even stopping. I had to pull the key out of the ignition to bring his vehicle to stop.

Sorry to hear about this. There has to be a regulation for such vehicles. More so because the brakes on these vehicles are not very effective.
The mismanagement is a consequence of the tragically ineffective regulatory regime which penalizes drivers for parking in the wrong spot but has no cognizance of accidents committed by commercial transportation vehicles.

[petrolhead_neel]

Our city is being flooded with these. Soon they are going to replace the cycle rickshaws. But the problem is that some over enthusiastic drivers(or passengers?) are pushing this thing to the highway. This is a real threat to the lives of the passengers. And there has been hit and run cases as mentioned. It could not be tracked later because of the lack of regn. numbers. Even the cycle rickshaws have them!!
They are called 'Toto' in most parts of Bengal.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by mishraak

Apart from manufacturing and disposal, there has to exist some traffic regulatory to monitor the plying of these vehicles. They have no respect whatsoever for traffic rules and don't have any road manners.

E-rickshaws involved in 36 accidents this year, traffic cops tell Delhi HC

Hit by an e-rickshaw, child slips out of mother’s arms into pan of boiling oil

Moreover these rickshaws have no unique identification, suppose you get hit by this vehicle, how are you going to catch him or file an FIR or bring the culprit to responsibility, you just cannot iterate that it was a "red/green colored rickshaw with Mayuri written at back".

I have been hit by such a vehicle in past, the driver was so drunk that it was pointless beating him as well. He was not even stopping. I had to pull the key out of the ignition to bring his vehicle to stop.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post3321784

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/67695-need-advice-after-accident-27.html#post3321959

Most of these e-ricks keep their lights completely off at night to save power. This is very dangerous. But why pick on them alone? Auto rickshaws drive equally badly and are often missing lights as well, even in Delhi. What we need is a license/ medallion number for each public transport vehicle. This number (e.g. 1340) should be prominently painted on all sides to make identification easier. In addition we need harsh penalties for breaking of rules by public passenger vehicles as they are responsible for several lives. The ability to earn their livelihood should be considered a privilege that would be withdrawn if they flout the rules. If we had a system of strictly enforced rules that led to the cancellation of commercial driving licences in case of X number of violation within 3 years, these drivers would need to be much more careful or else they would lose their jobs. The mindset needs to change. Currently it is the right of anyone to drive a rickshaw, e-rickshaw, set up a little kiosk etc. to earn his living. This should become a privilege to be earned by getting training and a license and a privilege to be cherished by obeying the traffic rules.

[babu.sundaram]

To me, we have more questions than solution with eRickshaws. May be we need another vehicle class added to regulate these!

1. Who ceritifies these as road worthy? They use public road space and can pose a threat to public who are on or off the vehicle. If these can be road worthy, why not our own desi Jugaad and Chennai-Famous-Fish-Cart be fine in any road?
2. When these are used to ferry public, shouldn't the drivers be tested and certified that they are capable of handling vehicles?
3. When there are accidents, how are these vehicles treated?
4. How do these vehicles get charged? Who pays for the charging? Typically a good manufacturer supplied EVs run for 80 KMs on one charge. Given the comments above, appears that they need more frequent (and in middle of day) charging. Where does that happen?
5. Do we have proper waste disposal mechanisms to handle such below the poverty line usage?

A mass of people gaining livelihood is not answer to leave a thing unregulated

[dreamliner17]

The E-Rickshaw can be a classic example of how the use of 'electricity and technology' can be combined for people in the very low income groups (I would not use the term poor),ie the cycle rickshaw drivers.

This mode of transport being the slowest, is only used for a fraction of the distance that we normally cover during our travel, say from your house to the market or your house to the nearest taxi/auto stand or railway station. These operate in the existing 'crowded' areas and they are highly impractical to be used on the highways/main roads. All the issues like charging points, basic upkeep of the vehicles, structured fare mechanism, passenger carrying capacity, authenticity of drivers (including their behaviour and ethics) etc seem valid points in consideration which will have to addressed to make the E-Rickshaw a 'useable' mode of last mile connectivity.

Considering the fact that these cycle rickshaw drivers are from the less privileged society, i doubt how efficiently they can manage 'maintaining' these electric vehicles. As far as E-Rickshaw's being used in other developed countries, the per capita income and basic literacy rate being much higher, those E-Rickshaw drivers 'might' be more aware of how these systems work and other features, including abiding by the laws and safety norms set by that country.

I would be very happy to see a battery operated auto-rickshaw which can provide a better, comfortable and safer travel compared to these smaller ones

[apachelongbow]

I wonder why we make some ill informed debates regarding lack of road sense, environmental issues when talking about e-rickshaws? Why us, even the honorable Supreme court seems to be against the e-rickshaws in a similar mindset.
Let us first understand, is the conventional rickshaw better than the e-rickshaw regarding environmental pollution, bottleneck in traffic, ergonomically superior, or has more passenger safety? When we cannot prove that the current petrol/cng rickshaw is better than the e-rickshaw in any way, why are we opposing the introduction of this form of transport?