What Uber, Ola, Tesla Can Learn From India’s Informal E-rickshaw Charging Hubs

[prasad1]

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Ever since the first electric rickshaws were spotted on Delhi’s streets in 2010; India has witnessed a silent e-mobility revolution powered by what Indians are best known for: Doing smart things with almost no resources, and often by breaking the law.

Around the world, the twinned problems of “range-anxiety” and the absence of a robust charging infrastructure are seen as the biggest hurdles to the widespread adoption of e-vehicles.

Yet over 60 million Indians commute each day on a fleet over 1.5 million electric rickshaws that are mysteriously charged each night, despite the fact that the country has no formal charging infrastructure, and that most e-rickshaw drivers live in working class settlements without proper electricity connections.

For now, however, India’s informal charging centres remain the hub of the country’s e-rickshaw revolution.

The Great Indian ‘E-Jugaad’

In a side lane in ManiMajra, a small town in Chandigarh, e-rickshaws lined up behind a car service centre to recharge at a “kundi” connection — slang for an unauthorised electricity connection tapped from an overhead electric supply line.

The owner of the centre was away, but the rickshaw drivers said they topped up their batteries for between Rs 100 and Rs 150 for several hours of charging. Each e-rickshaw comes fitted with four lead acid batteries that can take up to 8 hours at a time to charge fully.

These extended charge times suggest that these charging hubs are profitable only if they operate under the radar, and steal their electricity.

A recent report by the New Delhi based Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation considers the significant problems created by the current unorganised models including the menace of millions of defunct lead-acid batteries, route congestion, and of course — charging.

Yet, at the same time, the report acknowledges that the e-rickshaws play a critical role in providing last-mile connectivity for commuters.

What Uber, Ola, Tesla Can Learn From India’s Informal E-rickshaw Charging Hubs

As much vaunted startups stumble and fall, solutions to the world’s pressing problems might be found in the ingenuity of everyday people.

www.huffingtonpost.in

 

[RSSARMA52]

Ever since the first electric rickshaws were spotted on Delhi’s streets in 2010; India has witnessed a silent e-mobility revolution powered by what Indians are best known for: Doing smart things with almost no resources, and often by breaking the law.

Around the world, the twinned problems of “range-anxiety” and the absence of a robust charging infrastructure are seen as the biggest hurdles to the widespread adoption of e-vehicles.

Yet over 60 million Indians commute each day on a fleet over 1.5 million electric rickshaws that are mysteriously charged each night, despite the fact that the country has no formal charging infrastructure, and that most e-rickshaw drivers live in working class settlements without proper electricity connections.

For now, however, India’s informal charging centres remain the hub of the country’s e-rickshaw revolution.

The Great Indian ‘E-Jugaad’

In a side lane in ManiMajra, a small town in Chandigarh, e-rickshaws lined up behind a car service centre to recharge at a “kundi” connection — slang for an unauthorised electricity connection tapped from an overhead electric supply line.

The owner of the centre was away, but the rickshaw drivers said they topped up their batteries for between Rs 100 and Rs 150 for several hours of charging. Each e-rickshaw comes fitted with four lead acid batteries that can take up to 8 hours at a time to charge fully.

These extended charge times suggest that these charging hubs are profitable only if they operate under the radar, and steal their electricity.

A recent report by the New Delhi based Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation considers the significant problems created by the current unorganised models including the menace of millions of defunct lead-acid batteries, route congestion, and of course — charging.

Yet, at the same time, the report acknowledges that the e-rickshaws play a critical role in providing last-mile connectivity for commuters.

What Uber, Ola, Tesla Can Learn From India’s Informal E-rickshaw Charging Hubs

As much vaunted startups stumble and fall, solutions to the world’s pressing problems might be found in the ingenuity of everyday people.

www.huffingtonpost.in

This article takes me to th 1980 later periods where the local rickshaws in the colony area of Vikas puri etc used to run in kerosene. They used to cater to the morning crowd from their residential area stand to the accross the road corner to bus-stand.
Our youths are enthusiastic and hard working but since everything is looked the caster oil eyes their seriousness and support to community is ignored and harassed by unlawful law abiding people.
Even today if the public transport is augmented for all long routes and local rickshaw from bus stops railway stations to the colony is encouraged we could get rid of pollution and save on oil. At the same time youths could be socially and society conscious for the public and country.

 

[Mani_Chennai]

This article takes me to th 1980 later periods where the local rickshaws in the colony area of Vikas puri etc used to run in kerosene. They used to cater to the morning crowd from their residential area stand to the accross the road corner to bus-stand.
Our youths are enthusiastic and hard working but since everything is looked the caster oil eyes their seriousness and support to community is ignored and harassed by unlawful law abiding people.
Even today if the public transport is augmented for all long routes and local rickshaw from bus stops railway stations to the colony is encouraged we could get rid of pollution and save on oil. At the same time youths could be socially and society conscious for the public and country.

True. One can create a solar powered cooling hat to wear and walk in hot Sun. But as soon as you have innovation, corrupt police, goondas and politician will steal your earning. That is why, being an entrepreneur is not an option in India. Self employment means 40% bribe!. See, if we have solar cells embedded in the body of a car and in hot summer the car batteries could be easily charged when the car is parked. It is coming now from Korea and China. Why can't we do in India !- corruption !. So, when we read these news, you feel sad. Also, we still follow the defunct British model of education in almost all Universities – because students copying and getting a degree free – is the fear. IIT, IIM's the professor sets the questions, corrects the answer sheets and give the grade. If you do the same in the Universities, every Professor will become a Crorepathi because bribe overtakes honesty. So, it is true – necessary is the mother of innovation, provided there is no bribe as the father of innovation becomes the modern saying. In 1969, at Tata Institue of Fundamental Research before anywhere in the world, Tamil Speech Synthesis by rule (AI) was generated and demoed in the 2nd International Conference of Tamil by a scholar there! Had they pattended it and fully developed for other languages, we could have earned billions of dollars. It was IBM which did it and got 2 billion dollars. Ariya Batta (460 AD), Brahma Guypta (670) who created the decimal system because of the invention of zero ,which came back to us via Irque as a decimal system. We have always had advanced scientific thinkers, but politial corruption always controlled it.