Are Battery-Electric Autorickshaws a Sustainable Mobility Alternative for Developing Countries?

Are Battery-Electric Autorickshaws a Sustainable Mobility Alternative for Developing Countries?

Battery-Electric Autorickshaws (BEAR) have emerged as a viable mobility alternate in the last decade in developing countries; especially, in Southeast Asia. The reasons for the popularity of BEAR in those counties include availability of inexpensive batteries and parts to convert conventional rickshaws, improved lifestyle of rickshaw operators that disfavors manual labor, and unregulated charging infrastructure allowing charging of BEARs. In this paper, we investigated the sustainability of BEARs as a mobility alternative to the traditional vehicle fleet composed of petroleum-driven autorickshaws, shuttle-vans, and bus in meeting the medium distance trips i.e. trip length between 1 – 5 miles. We developed a survey of the BEAR fleet operators to study the current market penetration and operating conditions of BEARs in Chittagong, a coastal division of Bangladesh. One section of the survey questionnaire was on the cost of ownership of BEAR including purchase price, maintenance, and charging related expenses. Another section was focused on the routes, trip frequency, charging schedules, and fare structure of BEAR operations. We estimated emissions savings for a range of trips using the operations data. A simplified BEAR energy consumption model was developed to estimate the power required to complete individual trips considering power losses during charging. Trips shorter than 2 miles are found to replace non-motorized trips contributing to increase of upstream emissions in absence of a clean grid. The break-even point for a BEAR is found to be shortened by three years with the consideration of emissions savings.