E-autorickshaws possible in 1 yr: Expert

Kolkata: Autorickshaws could be running on leased batteries by end-2019 or the beginning of 2020, believes Ashok Jhunjhunwala, institute professor, IIT Madras.
Originally from Kolkata, Jhunjhunwala was in the city on Tuesday to deliver a lecture at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta on whether India can achieve its goal of having e-vehicles on the streets by 2030.According to him, it is possible, provided a lot of hard work is done in the next 2-3 years, failing which China and other countries would start sending all kinds of e-vehicles to India. China already exports kits for e-rickshaws to India.
“Europe, the US and even China are targeting the premium 2% segment of cars where prices are not a factor. India needs to target the rem-aining 98%. Unlike the West, India can’t afford to subsidise e-vehicles. The biggest challenge is to bring down costs. Engineers have already made vehicles more efficient by making them lighter and changing their designs. The efficiencies of e-auto ri-ckshaws have gone up from 70-80 Wh/km to 45-50 Wh/km. For e-buses, we have increased efficiency from 1,600 Wh/km to 900 Wh/km. Batteries comprise 50% of the cost of e-vehicles. To contain costs, we decided to cut down the size of batteries depending upon the need,” he said.
For instance, an auto-rickshaw could start the day with a battery that would let it run 50km. Most drivers aren’t keen to recharge their batteries after this as it may take up to 45 minutes. Moreover, the battery life is shortened if charged at high temperatures. The concept that Jhunjhunwala’s team has evolved is to get the drivers to swap batteries at petrol pumps. They would just need to deposit the used-up batteries and get recharged ones for a payment. In this way they could drive as long as they desire provided they keep swapping batteries.
“Drivers don’t even have to buy the batteries. It’s similar to the use of LPG cylinders at home. We pay for the content, not the container. Talks have already been held with oil majors for petrol pumps to stack batteries and charge drained ones in cool environments to prevent damage. Battery manufacture-rs are also on board. We have also talked to 15 companies to standardise designs, at least to begin with, to prevent problems of compatibility,” the Padma Shri scientist said.