You could soon see a solar power battery assisted, pedalled freight rickshaw. Eyeing corporates eager to earn green mileage, HBL Power Systems, a Rs 1,000-crore company, has developed a solar power assisted, motor-based rickshaw to move goods in small cities.
The rickshaw — designed to carry a freight of 250 kg, at a speed of up to 24 km per hour — is priced at about Rs 90,000, and gives a mileage of 40 km on a single battery charge. The product is aimed at replacing non-motorised cycle rickshaws that have much slower speed. HBL has based its product on Soleckshaw, a solar power battery assisted, pedalled rickshaw developed by CSIR and CMERI, Durgapur.
The pilot trials will start in January, officials of HBL Power Systems told
Competition
Though the commercial viability of the product has yet to be established, the company claims it has received good response from customers. HBL has fitted devices to prevent over-loading and over-speeding to improve longevity of the product.
The product could also get competition from Jugaads . “ Jugaads – that are usually fitted with scooter engines, cost about Rs 20,000,” says Mr S.P. Singh, Senior Fellow at transport research body Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training. Depending on the kind of cargo, these rickshaws can handle up to 400 kg.
CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) has given out licences to several companies for an upfront payment of Rs 3 lakh – at the rate of Rs 100 a vehicle for the first 3,000 vehicles for a five-year period. The licensees are HBL Power Systems, Stilam Automobiles, Modular Machines, DEAN Systems and Kinetic Motors.
While Kinetic Motors took the licence exclusively for “postal Soleckshaw”— to be used by delivery men of India Post, others are selling the passenger carrying version of Soleckshaw at a price range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 75,000.
Dr A.J. Banerjee, Senior Principal Scientist, CMERI, said, “Postal Soleckshaws are plying in Ajmer, while the passenger version is in use at Delhi (walled city), Kolkata, Lucknow, Kalyani, Jaipur and for providing last mile connectivity in Noida and Gurgaon Metro stations.”
“With some initial financial grants, substitution of imports from China, and mass production, the price of passenger rickshaw price can be brought down to Rs 20,000 levels,” says Dr Banerjee, adding that they worked on this product with the sole aim to reduce the drudgery of rickshaw puller.
This increases the income of rickshaw puller by three to four times, he says because with higher speed, the pullers are able to do many more trips a day.
Dr Banerjee hopes companies will part-fund Soleckshaws as a CSR measure. At present, these rickshaws are being given to the pullers through NGOs that take a loan from financing institutions.
The NGOs collect a daily rent from the pullers, to repay the loan.