Most of the cities in developing countries are highly polluted. The main reasons are the air and noise pollution caused by transport vehicles especially petrol-powered two and three wheelers mostly called autorickshaws. An electric cycle rickshaw can provide a non-polluting and a very silent transport system for urban and rural areas of India. We have developed three types of rickshaws a) Improved pedal cycle rickshaw (IMPRA); b) Motor assisted pedal rickshaw (MAPRA); and c) a completely battery driven rickshaw called ELECSHA^TM . The details of these rickshaws are presented in this paper. It is shown that these rickshaws can provide a very environmentally friendly, energy efficient and cost effective transport system and can replace the existing autorickshaws. Economic analysis of these rickshaws is presented and policy issues are identified. Besides reducing pollution these rickshaws can provide large scale employment in urban and rural areas of India.

INTRODUCTION

Most of the cities in developing countries are highly polluted. The main reasons are the air and noise pollution caused by transport vehicles, especially petrol-powered two and three wheelers. For example, in India there are close to 18 million petrol powered two wheelers and about 1.5 million petrol and diesel powered three wheelers and their population is growing at a healthy rate of about 15% per annum. Besides being a major hazard to people’s health, these machines are guzzling huge amounts of petrol and diesel for which the country has to pay dearly in foreign exchange outflow. In fact it is a common sight in developing countries that during traffic jams in congested areas of cities these vehicles produce tremendous pollution.

An electric cycle rickshaw can provide a non-polluting and a very silent transport system for urban and rural areas of India. Besides it is a very energy efficient and cost effective vehicle. Work done at our Institute has shown that improved cycle rickshaws powered by electric motor and batteries have a potential to provide an attractive alternative to petrol and diesel powered three wheelers. Besides they can also provide large scale employment and extra income to the rickshaw puller.

EXISTING CYCLE RICKSHAWS

There are guesstimates that close to 1 million cycle rickshaws ply the Indian roads carrying about 3-4 billion passenger-km/year . In some cities they are the major means of transport. They provide employment to about 700,000 rickshaw pullers, are very maneuverable and are completely non-polluting and hence environmentally friendly means of transport. It is very unfortunate that deliberate policies in most of the urban towns of developing countries have been made by the concerned authorities to phase out these rickshaws. These non-polluting vehicles are being replaced by polluting (both air and noisewise) petrol and diesel powered three wheelers. Our data show that three wheeler diesel tempos in Lucknow city (capital of Uttar Pradesh) produce close to 70-80 decibel noise at a distance of 1-2 m, besides belching out huge amounts of particulates into the air .

Nevertheless the existing rickshaws are very poorly designed so that it takes a heavy toll on the health of a rickshaw puller. The existing cycle rickshaw has hardly changed since it was introduced in 1930’s and 40’s in India. The gearing and the mechanical advantage of the pedal is very poor. Hence the rickshaw puller has to work very hard while climbing even a slight slope. A common sight is of rickshaw puller getting down and pulling on foot the rickshaw with passengers. The braking system is also very poor with only front brakes on the rickshaw. Thus when going downhill at high speeds sudden braking produces a catapult effect. Similarly the seating arrangement is very uncomfortable and the aerodynamic drag of the system is very high. It is therefore humanly degrading to pull the existing inefficient cycle rickshaw. Yet because of poverty, laborers do become rickshaw pullers and suffer adverse consequences to their health. The rickshaw manufacturing presently is a footpath industry with no quality control and there are as many rickshaw designs as cities in which they ply. These rickshaws are so poorly made that they have to be replaced completely in a couple of years. Thus there is a need to improve the existing rickshaw and bring quality control in its manufacture.

Our Institute has therefore designed and developed three types of rickshaws :

1) Improved pedal cycle rickshaw.

2) Motor assisted pedal cycle rickshaw.

3) Completely battery driven rickshaw  called ELECSHA.

Below are given the details of the work done :

• Improved pedal cycle rickshaw (IMPRA) : The new design of pedal rickshaw has 3 speed gears, reduction in length of long chain drives (which are in existing rickshaws), back wheel breaking, better suspension and less aerodynamic drag than the existing ones. Fig. 1 shows the improved NARI rickshaw. Tests done at our Institute have also shown that it enables a rickshaw puller to take 2 passengers on a 6-10% slope quite easily and without getting down from his seat. This rickshaw is made of mild steel angles, is light in weight and is sturdy. The weight of the rickshaw is 65 Kg. It’s life is estimated to be between 7-10 years.

• Motor assisted pedal rickshaw (MAPRA) : Our data (from discussions with rickshaw pullers) also revealed that with a small battery driven motor [permanent magnet D.C. (PMDC) type] attached to the improved rickshaw (with 3 speed gear) it may be possible for the rickshaw puller to go uphill with ease. Similarly he can also carry load at 10-15 km/hr speed.

1. ELECSHA^TM : In major cities of India there are petrol and diesel powered three-wheelers called autorickshaws. They are some of the most polluting vehicles on Indian roads. They run on 2 stroke engine principle which is inherently more polluting than the regular 4 stroke engine. Besides, data collected by us show that in the traffic conditions prevalent in most inner city areas these autorickshaws run only at 15-20 km/hr speed thereby producing even more pollution since they are designed to run efficiently at 40-45 km/hr. The pollution is further compounded by the fact that they continuously have to run in stop/start mode. Our data also shows that on an average these autorickshaws travel about 50-60 km. during a day. Based upon this data it was felt that an electric rickshaw designed to run 60-80 km/charge and with speeds of 25-30 km/hr will be an excellent substitute for these autorickshaws. In a fair weather country like India, a silent and non polluting electric rickshaw with the above attributes can be a boon.

We plan to introduce these rickshaws in the cities of Lucknow and Pune where maximum number of cycle rickshaws and autorickshaws respectively ply in the country. The comparison of electric rickshaws and autorickshaws can only take place once ELECSHA starts plying in actual conditions. However based upon existing data a simple economic analysis can be done.

1. IMPRA : Discussions with rickshaw puller in various cities reveal that they ply the rickshaws to a maximum of 25-30 km/day. During hot season (which is majority time of the year) they can only go to 15-20 km/day. On an average they charge Rs. 3-5/km. Hence they can make between Rs. 75--125/day. After giving Rs. 15/day as rickshaw hiring charges they can earn about Rs. 60-110/day. Data on our rickshaw has shown that with gears the rickshaw puller can easily go about 30-40 km/day. This can easily increase his earnings substantially.
2. MAPRA : In this case our data has shown that a rickshaw puller can easily pedal 50 km/day and in some tests he has also gone to 70 km/day in 2 shifts. Thus with the cost of MAPR at Rs. 17,000 he can earn at least Rs. 150/day (by charging Rs. 3/km). If rickshaw owner charges Rs. 40/day as hiring charges (the puller will get at least Rs. 110/day as net income) then the owner will be able to repay the rickshaw loan in 5 years. He will also at the same time earn a profit of about Rs. 4,600/year for 10 years on each rickshaw. This includes battery replacement cost every 3rd year and 18% interest on loan.
3. ELECSHA : The ELECSHA owner can make a net profit of Rs. 25,400/year for 10 years continously. This requires that the fare will be Rs. 3.50/km and that the rickshaw will go to 70 km/day. Other assumptions are :

1. Battery and its charging : One of the major issues facing large scale electric vehicles introduction is the issue of batteries. With the present level of technology development most of the batteries used are lead acid batteries. Deep discharge lead acid batteries are presently imported in India and are very heavy. The issue of battery charging can be tackled in two ways :

1. Having an onboard charger and plugging it in any electrical outlet : This concept has been used in most of the electric vehicles. This concept can be attractive for private owners of ELECSHA. However the disadvantage of this method is that it increases the cost of ELECSHA since charger will be a part of it.

        ii) Calorific value of petrol 8.74 kWh / l.

In developing countries most of the cities are very congested with narrow roads. Because of historical reasons these roads cannot be broadened. For such roads non-polluting vehicles like IMPRA, MAPRA etc. as described in this article can provide a very attractive transport system. With enlightened Government policies of allowing only such vehicles in these areas, the cities of developing countries can become pollution free and livable. Besides such vehicles can also be a boon for small towns which have started introducing polluting vehicles like the existing autorickshaws.

Printed in January 2002