[GTO]

Sharing the press release as received:

International Road Federation, a Geneva-based global body working for better and safer roads worldwide has urged the government to immediately replace the single and double cylinder naturally aspirated (NA) diesel engines used for transportation of passengers and goods for last mile urban connectivity with electric vehicles.

“India is a unique country in the world which has been using single and double cylinder diesel technology for transportation of passengers as well as goods. These types of technologies were used globally mostly for water pumping from the ground or for boat rides. In India, single cylinder engines are used in three wheelers for carrying Passengers and Goods. It got extended to four wheelers in the shape of two cylinders for a bit higher capacity around 1500 kg.” said MR K K Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation (IRF).

"The one and double cylinder application has also got extended to personal vehicles e.g. quadricycles. At the same time, this category of vehicles is so designed that they can be overloaded most of the time though they are otherwise registered for a much lower capacity.“

“They are also the main source of pollution in the urban environment. Bharat stage III, IV or VI emission norms for such category of vehicles are merely a paper exercise for approval purposes as they are miserably abused in the field. Industry normally gives the excuse of enforcement of law on ground. Three wheelers which are approved for three passengers carry 10-15 passengers which is a common sight in the urban environment including the NCR, which adds to air and noise pollution.”

“Same is the story for four wheeler transport vehicles. It was thought that introduction of tighter norms will act as a disruption to technology, as time passes. But the industry finds its way and is now lobbying that Bharat Stage VI norms for such vehicles be shifted to 2022 from 2020 in the hope that political scenario may change by that time and they will push the same vehicle for a much longer time, though against the policy when entire nation is moving towards Smart City and Electric mobility.” MR Kapila alleged.

“Single and double cylinder Lobby is also at work to exempt such four wheelers from ABS, Airbag and Crash test norms etc. ABS and airbag/crash technologies must not be compromised with. We are already facing alarming number of accidents and to grant further concessions in provisions of safety features would then be suicidal”

“This year, the Auto Expo has put on display a large number of E-mobility products in this category of vehicles, both in passenger and goods transport sector with larger number of variants. It is high time the Government pushes its agenda for E-mobility in this segment as the first alternative, since the technology has already matured. To start with, this should be made mandatory in metro towns including the NCR, where emission is the main concern affecting the air quality”

[OrangeCar]

100% agree with Mr. Kapila / IRF.

Single cylinder / two cylinder vehicles are compromised in safety of its own passengers and other road users.

Overloaded with people / goods / both; is a common sight in cities, rural India and dreadfully even on highways.

I do not think EV is a practical option to provide last mile connectivity and thus replace these vehicles.
- The technology is not yet affordable - which is a primary reason for their sales in rural and semi-urban areas.
- Electricity is not available consistently.
- Time needed for charging compromises returns on investment of such vehicles.
- And when overloaded, electric motors tend to draw more power thus much reduced range.

Therefore I believe, logical regulation and strict enforcement is key.
- Minimum speed regulation, say at 3X the rated load (say 40KMPH min speed rating) will help such vehicles not compromise safety of other road users and slow down traffic. (Although this means higher power/torque in such vehicles which could be abused by manic drivers!)
- ABS / Airbags / AC-ed cabins / on-board GPS should be mandatory. Although it adds to the cost, with volumes the incremental costs should come down. And there cannot be any compromise on such tech.
- Enforcing all vehicles to pass minimum crash standards, empowering homologation providing authorities to not approve structurally unstable vehicles (like 3 wheeled goods transport vehicles) for registration.
- And finally, fool proof enforcement of penalizing law breakers is the key! I do not understand why don't cops catch all vehicles on road (especially highways) with broken head/tail lamps and penalize them. Everybody would fall in line.

[ajmat]

I agree, I hope the NGT make use of facts like these instead of arbitrary judgements without data.

I wonder how many of these drivers actually have their hearing intact.

Did they also address the Maruti Celerio diesel in this directive?

[koolguy_ani]

Truly agreed. Here in Hinjewadi area(near Pune), there are a lot of these ill-maintained diesel rickshaws(known as tam-tam) which emit clouds of soot and smoke. And hundreds of these are plying on the roads driven rashly and overloaded with people. The policemen don't seem to apprehend them who otherwise are active for out of state vehicles and checking the PUC's of vehicles randomly. Riding a two-wheeler is a nightmare esp in the traffic, as they do not turn their engines off and also keep opening the throttle just to ensure that the engine doesn't turn off and hence, emitting a lot of smoke.
They could be replaced with EV's or may be converted to CNG as well.
A glimpse of one of those diesel rickshaw(this is quite less in comparison to the others and sorry for the poor image quality, taken from cell phone using digital zoom)

[GeeTee TSI]

Besides being unsafe and belching smoke like no other vehicle on road (I am yet to see a clean burning diesel single/twin cylinder contraption, not even by chance) they are also incredibly underpowered; struggling to get moving, let alone sustain a speed with the general traffic flow.

Maybe they should also be targeted as a safety hazard for other motorists

[varunsangal]

The government needs a multi-point agenda to reduce pollution and make roads safer.

1. Government should ban all 3 wheelers and 1-2 cylinder 4 wheelers.
2. Convert all remaining city transport/commercial vehicle movement to EVs.
3. Introduce strict safety/compliance and maintenance norms for all vehicles. This will ensure cleaner air, clearer roads and reduced jams as vehicle breakdown reduces.
4. Prevent overloading of vehicles, this will prevent broken roads and broken vehicles.
5. Introduce driving test/road etiquette training for all drivers. This will reduce traffic jams and consequently pollution as vehicles will follow lanes etc.

While above is a lot to ask for, if we are to move forward as a nation, the first agenda has to be make living spaces, well.. livable. Today the cities are on the verge of choking to death due to pollution and harsh living conditions.

[deetjohn]

I sure hope something better come off this.

In Kerala, petrol auto-rickshaws have died. All been replaced with these crude diesel engine ones. And this is true for both urban and rural areas. And I absolutely cannot stand the racket it makes - both at idle and when this thing moves. It sounds as if the engine is getting blown with no oil in it every time.

If someone comes to the neighborhood in one of these, everyone will surely know.

A video for reference. Quite sure there is no need for this. Easy to recall this annoying rattle. A warning though - please don't wear earphones to listen to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RqKHiAqFW8

If there is one segment where EV revolution cannot happen any sooner, it is this. A charging point at the auto stand and the short trips makes it the best candidate.

Elon, where are you?

[gopa99]

yes. These are mainstay for engine manufacturers like greaves cotton who supply these power trains for the industry, except may be bajaj who have their own designs.
I fully agree with the author that the BS4 certifications are truly on paper.
But interesting thing is these engines are so frugal and cost effective that it might be not practical to eliminate these engines from India. B2C companies like Amazon, Bigbasket and Godrej do big business plying and using majorly of these powertrains. Unless EV technology can become affordable and practical, it might not do any good for India. And now even the govt agrees this, by making the U turn on EV vehicle policy!

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

If there is one segment where EV revolution cannot happen any sooner, it is this. A charging point at the auto stand and the short trips makes it the best candidate.

Originally Posted by gopa99

...Unless EV technology can become affordable and practical, it might not do any good for India.

The shift to EVs cannot be made overnight without ensuring the required charging infrastructure is put in place. Else, we'll see the pollution shifting from the commercial and residential areas to the areas where coal or diesel power stations are set up. Not to mention the risks associated with nuclear power stations. Solar plants can only be used to supplement the more stable power stations such as hydels, for obvious reasons. Then comes the problems associated with transmission and storage of the huge amount of electric power needed to charge these EVs. We'll basically end up with polluting something else in place of air.

The logical step would be to move to hybrids and then as and when EV tech becomes more affordable and abuse-friendly, completely shift to EVs.

There are many projects going on to bring some sort of hybrid system into last mile connectivity solutions like auto-rickshaws. Until their cost becomes comparable to what a 3-wheeler owner of this day pays, they are bound to remain concepts.

And now even the govt agrees this, by making the U turn on EV vehicle policy!

There has to be concrete policy steps such as significantly low or no taxes for low end EVs, import duty cuts and manufacturing related tax sops for EV components, subsidies for the end user ie., the owner of the auto-ricks - just to list down a few. A knee-jerk reaction is not going to help anybody except those who want to cash in on the sensation.