The Electric Rickshaw Is Taking Over the World, Just Not in the U.S.
Photo: Hindustan Times / Contributor (Getty Images)
Electric vehicles continue to get more popular in the U.S., but they still only make up a small percentage of overall new vehicle sales. Other countries, however, are seeing huge growth in the sale of electric vehicles. But they aren’t actually electric cars. Many of them are rickshaws, the bicycle and motorcycle-based three-wheelers that are a popular form of transportation in many Asian countries.
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The Atlantic reports that the number of electric rickshaws on the streets has grown exponentially over the last several years. In India, for example, half of all rickshaws sold were reportedly electric. Meanwhile, electric passenger vehicles only made up 5.8 percent of car sales in the U.S. What’s even more interesting, though, is that the rise of the electric rickshaw wasn’t exactly pushed by automakers or governments.
According to the article, it started about 15 years ago when lead-acid batteries got cheap enough, rickshaw drivers started looking to electrify. That led a number of enterprising independent shops to begin importing parts from China and building their own electric rickshaws that they could sell inexpensively. Eventually, automakers caught on and began offering their own versions, including the Mahindra e-Alfa, an electric passenger rickshaw that makes about 2 hp and costs less than $1,800.
In countries such as India where air pollution is a major problem, the rise in electric rickshaws is a big deal. One study in Pakistan found that every electric three-wheeler cuts between three and six tons of CO2 pollution per year, which is roughly on par with what a typical car emits annually in the U.S. That’s because even though rickshaws are more fuel efficient than a midsize family sedan, they’re typically driven all day instead of sitting parked most of the time. So when it comes to cleaning up the air, a switch to electric rickshaws has serious potential to make a huge impact.
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