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Old 23rd January 2016, 10:57   #1
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Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Pune-based Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions Ltd, a venture of the Kinetic Group (remember the Kinetic Honda and the Luna?) specializing in green transport solutions, on Thursday introduced its indigenously designed battery operated e-Auto called ‘Kinetic Safar’.



Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw-kineticsolarlpti.jpg

As per a statement from the company, “The Safar is positioned as an ecofriendly social innovation to promote pollution-free yet affordable public transport in the country. It is designed to ensure reduction in carbon footprint with zero emission and sound, and provide a cost-effective solution for last-mile connectivity as well as shared public transport in cities across India,”

The company also said in the statement that the Safar has been approved by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and meets all government safety norms as per the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR). “The Safar boasts of unique safety and performance features including an all-steel body for durability and ruggedness, dual headlamps for clear night vision, powerful brakes for safety, dashboard with battery charge indicator and speedometer. In line with CMVR guidelines, the Safar has a maximum speed of 25kph and can carry four passengers plus the driver comfortably,”

Unlike other E-Rickshaws in the market, which are mostly important and assembled Chinese kits and are not closed in any manner, the Safar is more traditional Auto like and provides all weather riding due to its cabin and glass windshield with wiper.

It can also climb gradients and flyovers with ease. This feature has been specifically certified by ARAI under the AIS standard for gradability

It works on a lead acid battery system provided by Exide and is backed with warranty, service and recycling backup all over the country.

Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw-kineticgreen12018699x380.jpg

The Safar costs 1.28 Lakh Ex-Showroom Delhi. With a Rs 10 per ride, the buyer can recover the investment in 8-9 months.

The company also announced that it has bagged an order from the UP government which would be India’s largest-ever institutional order for electric vehicles. This order is for 27,000 Kinetic Safar vehicles amounting to Rs 400 crore, of which delivery is to be completed within 12 months. The order falls under the “E-Rickshaw Yojana” of the UP government, which is a social welfare initiative aimed at providing free e-rickshaws to the existing manual rickshaw-pullers in the state. The company has already completed delivery of the first 300 units of Kinetic Safar to the government and plans to enhance deliveries to 3,000 units per month.

The Safar is being manufactured at Kinetic Green’s facility at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra with an installed capacity of 4,000 vehicles per month.

The company is also working on battery vehicles with the Li-ion technology.

Source: Financial Express

Last edited by Rajeevraj : 23rd January 2016 at 11:00.
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Old 23rd January 2016, 18:11   #2
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re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

25KMPH is how quick or slow is left to be seen in real world conditions.
I doubt it will be used on regular routes.

P.S. I have been seeing in many places the word 'Important' been used in place of Imported like in the fourth para, is it due to auto correct.
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Old 24th January 2016, 10:40   #3
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re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Rajeevraj, thank you for sharing this and being the champion for electric vehicles on Team BHP. This is the first step in the right direction. I wish Kinetic all success.
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Old 25th January 2016, 14:09   #4
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re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Good to see more happening in the electric space. The Safar looks good way better than some of the contraptions that run on our roads recently experienced in cities like Jaipur.

This one looks like a proper rickshaw and at the same time minimal metal parts adding to weight. The pricing and range would be the key to its success.
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Old 25th January 2016, 14:28   #5
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re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Oh boy, please replace the air and noise polluting junk with something that runs on electricity! This appears to be a good replacement for ageing "racket"eers.

25 kmph is a great speed for an unstable vehicle; the current auto's anyway cannot run faster than that.
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Old 25th January 2016, 16:34   #6
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

This one looks and sounds good.

Ideally we should ideally absorb some good quantities of these like what UP govt is doing to help companies like these to invest more to come out with better or similar products. If we could figure out some ways to replace the existing ones across India running on diesel/petrol and other fossil fuels, it should work well in controlling air pollution and of course yes sound pollution.
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Old 28th January 2016, 01:38   #7
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Important info like how many kms per charge, time for full charge are missing.
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Old 28th January 2016, 02:48   #8
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Personally, i think it could have been better looking, but anyways, it is always a welcome initiative to develop electric vehicles. I wish Kinetic all the success with this new product. I do hope that they have considered the cost and life of the battery banks and the total cost of ownership rather than only the running cost per km, which is a very misleading yardstick with electric vehicles.

Years ago, IIT Bombay used to have electric rickshaws by M&M plying within its campus and it was very comfortable, and widely used. I believe it was called Bijlee and it was a 6 seater or more. Don't know why it was stopped, since it was very popular, cheap and efficient.

Hope Safar has a more successful run.
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Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw-bijlee-ev.jpg  

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Old 28th January 2016, 09:39   #9
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Quote:
Originally Posted by carwatcher View Post
25KMPH is how quick or slow is left to be seen in real world conditions.
I doubt it will be used on regular routes.

P.S. I have been seeing in many places the word 'Important' been used in place of Imported like in the fourth para, is it due to auto correct.
As per the article, the idea is to give it free to manual rickshaw pullers (Did not realize we still have manual rickshaw pullers). In that way this is good since 25 kmph will definitely be much faster than a poor man pulling a heavy load.

Good catch on the 'Imported' vs 'Important', Had done an edit on that line from mobile and it may have auto corrected or auto finished.

Quote:
Originally Posted by airbender View Post
Important info like how many kms per charge, time for full charge are missing.
Interestingly this info is not there anywhere. Even of the official website. Also, it runs on the Exide lead acid batteries. i don't think these are plug and recharge types.
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Old 28th January 2016, 12:49   #10
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Now that's some twist in the tale that makes everything look relevant.
At the same time, there are still few questions left as already mentioned, but nonetheless it surely is a welcome move.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajeevraj View Post
As per the article, the idea is to give it free to manual rickshaw pullers (Did not realize we still have manual rickshaw pullers). In that way this is good since 25 kmph will definitely be much faster than a poor man pulling a heavy load.
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Old 6th March 2016, 09:24   #11
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Re: Kinetic launches Safar - An Electric Autorickshaw

Electric Autorickshaws launched in Bengaluru
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/51269780.cms
BENGALURU:
If auto rickshaws in the city are blamed for polluting, here's a simple solution to replace the diesel/gas consuming autos. ElecRic, as the name goes runs on solar power, emits nothing and cost Rs 2 laksh only.
RJMS-EV, a private company that is into manufacturing of electric vehicle and components in Bengaluru has a patent in their name for their innovation in switching a typical auto that runs on gas to a solar-run auto rickshaw. The rickshaw was launched officially in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Umesh Chandra, one of the directors of the company says, "This is a pilot project that we have to spend money for Rs 4 crores. The government is giving the opportunities for entrepreneurs, solar power sector and mobility providers. Two stroke auto owners should be enabled to accommodate the technology in their autos to make the transition happen."
The company claims that the maintenance cost of a solar auto rickshaw will cost Re 1 per kilometre while it is Rs5 per km. ElecRic can go 110 km with five hours of charge if batteries are charged fully one time. Umesh suggested that if the government can create charging points underneath each metro stations or at government offices and banks, there will be two benefits—accessibility to charging points will be easier for all types of electric vehicles and secondly metro commuters can hop off the stations and find an EV to get home (serves last mile commute).
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