Pakistan’s electric rickshaws are accelerating the country’s EV revolution

I'm glad to see this movement.

On a visit to India I saw how many tuk-tuks were in use, how they really formed a crucial portion of the transportation infrastructure, and how dirty (polluting) they were. It always struck me that these were ripe for electrification.

While the article is talking about new units designed from the ground up as EV, I wonder if there is a viable retrofit option. Seeing mechanics work on Tuk-Tuks in India was very impresssive. The parts are so common and interchangeable, and the tools and equipment needed to work on them were common. The body separates fairly cleanly and quickly away from the drivetrain giving, in my mind, the opening for a retrofit. As in, remove the petro drivetrain, reuse the body, and drop it on an EV drivetrain.

The article, again referring to the high end EV units, talk about extensive range with LFP batteries, but also cites the barrier to entry is the cost of these new EVs being prohibitive. I wonder if a less efficient/less powerful drivetrain could be introduced perhaps even using commonplace lead acid batteries and relying more on battery swaps for range extension.

The LFP batteries are made in China, and while Pakistan enjoys good relations, India and China's relationship is a more tumultuous. Lead-acid batteries can be remanufactured domestically with limited infrastructure (and the input of cheap abundant domestic labor). I was introduced to this concept from this video showing a complete rebuild of a lead-acid battery with very simple tools on dirt ground.

2 comments

Do they call them tuk–tuks too?
I'm glad to see this movement.
On a visit to India I saw how many tuk-tuks were in use, how they really formed a crucial portion of the transportation infrastructure, and how dirty (polluting) they were. It always struck me that these were ripe for electrification.
While the article is talking about new units designed from the ground up as EV, I wonder if there is a viable retrofit option. Seeing mechanics work on Tuk-Tuks in India was very impresssive. The parts are so common and interchangeable, and the tools and equipment needed to work on them were common. The body separates fairly cleanly and quickly away from the drivetrain giving, in my mind, the opening for a retrofit. As in, remove the petro drivetrain, reuse the body, and drop it on an EV drivetrain.
The article, again referring to the high end EV units, talk about extensive range with LFP batteries, but also cites the barrier to entry is the cost of these new EVs being prohibitive. I wonder if a less efficient/less powerful drivetrain could be introduced perhaps even using commonplace lead acid batteries and relying more on battery swaps for range extension.
The LFP batteries are made in China, and while Pakistan enjoys good relations, India and China's relationship is a more tumultuous. Lead-acid batteries can be remanufactured domestically with limited infrastructure (and the input of cheap abundant domestic labor). I was introduced to this concept from this video showing a complete rebuild of a lead-acid battery with very simple tools on dirt ground.