1. A Policy Framework for E-Ricks
Submitted by
Krishna Prasanth Amaravadi (P131005)
Kumar Mukund (P131020)
PGPME 2013-15
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon
2. • Executive Summary
• Objective and Deliverables.
• Present Market Scenario
• Important facts
• Advantages and Disadvantages
• Research Methodology and Comparison
• Survey Results
• Policy Recommendations
• Stakeholders
• Opinion on Government decision on E-Ricks
• Future Prospects
• Conclusion
3. E-Ricks in
Delhi
Un-RegulatedMarketE-Ricks
• No governing rules.
• Commuter & by-stander
Safety.
• Traffic Congestion
• Financial Health of
DISCOMs.
• Reliability of Power supply
• Out dated Technology
• Battery Disposal.
Challenge-1
Challenge-2
Challenge-3
Category change of E-Ricks from
non-motorized to motorized &
set the required standards.
• Setting up Public charging
stations.
• Standards for chargers.
• Disposal Standards.
• Use of Lithium ion batteries,
incentives & development of
Li B’s secondary market..
4. • To study the current E-Ricks market, charging methods, payment
mechanism, and regulation in Delhi.
• Prepare draft policy framework.
• Conduct workshop for all stakeholders. (Yet to be done)
• Final policy recommendation regarding Charging infrastructure
and registration policy for E-Ricks.
• Feasibility check for replacement of lead acid battery with LiBs.
5. • Initially introduced in 2009 during common wealth games.
• Sudden proliferation of E-Ricks into Delhi market
• More than 1 lakh E-Ricks ply on the roads of Delhi and with this
rate more than 5 lakh E-Ricks might run on the roads of Delhi by
2020.
• Major concentration in the Western & Eastern parts of Delhi
followed by Northern, Central & Southern Delhi.
• E-Ricks entered into Tier I and II cities like Kolkata &
Vijayawada, Faridabad and some Tier III sub-urban areas like
Aligarh, Darbangha etc.
• Delhi High court said, “the operation of E-Ricks to be un-
authorized and ordered the Delhi police to seize the E-Ricks
because of un-regulated market.”.
6. • Awarness towards Environment.
• Better road quality.
• Metro stations, many shopping malls and
tourist spots in Delhi.
• Cheaper than other modes of transport
• Generates employment and high
acceptability rate.
• Zero emissions and pleasant drive with no
noise.
• No regulatory norms and laws.
• Infrastructure yet to be developed though there has been a
huge proliferation in the market.
• No in house manufacturers, dependent on China.
• Still use of outdated technology.
• No proper safety parameters used in construction of E-
Ricks.
• Early mover advantage, so that Delhi Transport
Department can become the consulting firm for
implementation of E-Ricks at other metro cities.
• Alternate source of fuel like renewables and reduced
dependence on fossil fuels.
• Helps in building future EV market.
• Useful during Smart Grid implementation.
• Reliable Mode and cheaper for passengers
• Adverse affect on Financial Heath of DISCOM’s
• Traffic congestion.
• No data on number of E-Ricks sold.
• Quality of power gets effected.
• Lead acid Battery Disposal will be a very big problem.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
SWOT
Analysis
8. Inexpensive
(Costs around
70,000 to 1
Lakh Rupees)
Un-regulated
(not registered
and no license
required)
Eco Friendly
(Zero
emissions &
less noise)
9. • Costs around Rs. 70,000 to 1,10,000/-.
• Use non-standard components.
• Run on lead acid batteries (4 units of 12V/80Ah in series) that costs around Rs.
20,000/-.
• Battery life is around 6 months.
• Motors used in majority of E-Ricks are of 650 Watt or higher rating.
• The full charging duration is 6 to 8 hours and it travels around 60 to 70 kms after full
charging.
• Generally charged once in a day during nights (10:00 pm to 6:00 am). Some rickshaw
owner also charge twice a day (during lunch time for 1-2 hours).
• Total number of passenger carried by E-Ricks is 6, including the driver (4 rear cabin
and 2 in the front).
• Daily average earnings around Rs. 600 to 700.
Survey done through interviews conducted with E-Rick drivers, assemblers & battery& vehicle dealers
10. For the Commuters
• Easy availability
• Affordable transportation to not properly connected places.
For Government & Society
• Large scale employment generator for unskilled and semi-skilled persons.
• Savings in oil/gas import bill of about Rs.2.78 Billion.
For Environment
• Environment friendly vehicles, supposed to reduce CO2 emission by 164396
tones annually which can increase upto 821980 tones annually by 2020
11. Un-Regulated Market and Sub-Standard Components
• These vehicles are not registered and don’t have any number plates. Thus a
commuter can’t claim insurance as no FIR is lodged by Delhi Police in case of
fatal accident s.
• Neither motorized nor non motorized according to Delhi motor vehicle act.
• No driving license is required to drive these vehicles which led to unruly driving
(by amateur drivers ) and traffic congestion in already overcrowded Delhi roads.
Illegal Charging
• These E-Ricks are charged at the owner’s premises with domestic connection
(tariff) due to which Delhi Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) are losing
money in the tune of 12 to 15 lakhs daily.
• There are also incidents of Electricity theft and overloading of Distribution
Transformers
• Power quality of DISCOMs is also effected.
12. Information
Collection
Secondary Data :
a. Studied research reports and the pilot project
details of various countries.
b. Drawn conclusions from various news articles
and publications.
Primary Data :
a. Interviewed E-Rickshaw Drivers & passengers.
b. Interacted with various stake holders of E-
Ricks like Owners, assemblers & battery
manufacturers and DISCOM officials.
c. Survey at 24 different metro stations.
Findings
Initial Findings:
a. Earnings and comparison between
other similar modes of transport.
b. Quality of parts assembled.
c. Reasons for sudden proliferation of
E-Ricks
d. Modes of charging E-Ricks.
e. Barriers for development of E-Rick
market.
f. Environmental effects - positive and
negative aspects.
g. Safety of commuters
Proposals
• Policies required to promote E-Ricks
• Regulate the E-Ricks and their
charging
13. Items E-Rick Auto Ricks
Cost in Rs. 70,000-1,10,000
Auto permits are limited by the
government. Rs. 2,00,000 in the market
(including permit cost)
Registration Process
No Registration required (Delhi
government recently issued a
notice, asking owners to register
these battery-operated rickshaws
under the Delhi Motor Vehicle Act).
Rules and procedures are laid out for the
issue of licences, badges, fitness certificates
etc. However, the bureaucrats often
misbehave with auto drivers and turn them
away on one pretext or the other.
Fuel Type Electricity CNG
Total distance travelled per day 70 Km 100 Km
Revenue Around 1000 Around 900
Battery replacement cost per km 1.48
Fuel Cost per km(in Rs.) 0.79 1.00
Profit per day Around 750 Around 700
Lower price and lack of red tape are the main reasons behind the mushrooming of E-Ricks
14. Parameters Auto Rickshaw Cycle-Rickshaw E-Ricks E-Ricks Remarks
Cost Rs.70000 to 1,10,000
Earnings Similar to autos
Fuel efficiency - 60-70km/full charge
km travelled/day 60-70km/day
Regulations Un regulated
License Un regulated
Safety Not so safe
Emissions No emissions
Human effort Less human effort
Customer Interest High interest rate
Fuel cost per km 0.79 Rs (vs) 1.00 Rs.
Environmental Effect Directly & Indirectly Nil Indirectly Battery disposal & Coal
Fuel type Natural Gas Manual Electricity
Sharing/un shared Mainly Unshared Not shared Sharing During office hours
Registration agency Delhi Transport dept. MCD - Important point
15. The major results that got through the survey conducted are
Important Survey Results:
a. Motor rating of E-Ricks. c. Domestic and illegal charging units.
b. Unregulated and un-licensed market. d. Battery disposal & use of LiB’s.
a. Out dated batteries sold
back to the seller.
b. Mainly use Lead acid
batteries.
c. Un-registered and no
licenses yet.
d. Sub-standard parts.
a. E-Ricks owned or
rented.(45% owned and 55%
rented)
b. Decent revenue earned but
maximum goes towards per
day rentals.
a. Hours together to full
charge.
b. Illegal charging stations or
charged at home.
c. Charged during Lunch
and Night hours.
17. Study Point
Rule
Survey outcome
(Both Primary &
Secondary Research)
Recommendation
• E-Ricks run on electric motors, which are rated at less than 250W and run at speeds
not more than 25km/h.
• No license & registration necessary to run on the roads of Delhi.
• According to Delhi Motor Vehicle Act, any vehicle running with the motor rating less
than 250W and speed less than 25km/h fall under Un-motorized category and no
License and the vehicle registration required to ply on the road.
• E-Ricks run on motor ratings which are between 650-1200W and their speed below
25km/h.
• Do not have license and they are not registered. So number of E-Ricks on Delhi
roads are unknown.
• These vehicles should be registered under Delhi Motor Vehicle Act.
• Driving license should be made mandatory for driving E-Ricks.
• A time frame of 6 months should be provided in the policy to complete the registrations
of already existing E-Ricks in Delhi.
• A new vehicles segment may be created for registering these E-Ricks, along with norms
on speed limit, maximum number of passengers and safety standards.
• Commuters can also claim insurance when the vehicle is registered in case of a mishap.
• Maximum motor rating that can be used should also be fixed.
18. Study Point
Rule
Survey outcome
(Both Primary &
Secondary Research)
Recommendation
• E-Ricks are used for commercial purpose.
• These are charged for 6 to 8 hours in a day in their residences and consume 7 to 10
units of electricity @ Domestic Tariff.
• To charge the batteries, sometimes Electricity is being Stolen.
• Electricity being used for any commercial purpose has to be billed on the basis of
commercial tariff.
• Theft of Electricity is a punishable crime.
• E-Ricks charged for 6 to 8 hours during night and 1 to 2 hours during lunch time.
• When E-Ricks are owned by the driver, charged at Home for domestic tariff, but when
it is on rent it is either charged at owners house at domestic tariff or at an illegal
charging points at Rs.10/-per unit plus an additional parking cost on per month basis.
• DISCOMs loosing almost 12 to 15 lakh Rupees per day. Don’t contribute to peak
load
• Initiate public charging infrastructure at places where there is E-Ricks concentration.
• DISCOMs and Road Transport Authorities should collaborate together to setup the
infrastructure
• ISGF can provide help in providing consultancy services to Transport department in
deciding the location, type of chargers, smart charging facilities and DPR preparation.
• Viability check for various business models that are applicable for India can be
provided by ISGF.
• Delhi DISCOMs need to take up tariff issue with DERC and seek appropriate tariff
for E-Rick charging.
19. Commercial parking Shopping mall
Residential parking
Bus Stand
Taxi and Auto StandParking near Metro
Station
20. Battery charging station
Customer can get charged battery instantly
Huge charged battery bank need to be maintained at charging
stations along with manpower.
Battery Swap Station
Commercially most feasible.
Takes more or less time for complete charging depending on Type
of charging.(for Lithium ion or Lead acid batteries)
Charge and Swap integrated station
Emergency cases can be handled
More infrastructure is required.
21. • In this model, the charging station near the metro will have a fast charging
infrastructure for charging Lithium Ion batteries or slow charging for
Lead Acid.
• The batteries will be given to the E rickshaw drivers on lease.
• The E-Ricks will be charged based on either of the three ways
a. Per km
b. Number of units charged
c. A fixed amount paid every month similar to the mobile charging.
• The batteries are owned by the charging station.
• The site can have a parking lot as well, where the E-Ricks can be parked
during night hours and during lunch.
• Incentives could be provided by the government to the charging station
which owns the batteries.
• They can also get additional revenue through advertising boards in the
charging station.
22. Charger
Charging Administration
Charging service Metering & Billing
Set &
Communication Safety
High power DC
power supply
Remote control
Video monitoring
Voice guide
Metering
Billing
Display
Parameter Setting
Remote update
Remote
communication
Safety protection
Charging door lock
Logout
Encryption
Emergency stop
Deal info
Self-detecting
23. • In this model, the charging station near the metro will own the batteries.
• When ever the battery gets discharged, the E-Rickshaw drivers can get the set replaced.
• It can be automated, semi automated or manual station..
• The drivers will be paying a monthly nominal fixed fee or on the basis of number of replacements in a
month.
• Incentives could be provided by the government to the charging station which owns the batteries.
• The site can have a parking lot as well, where the E-Ricks can be parked during night and lunch.
• It can only be a short term solution (for Lead Acid battery).
• While compared to plug-in charging , battery swap takes short time about 6-8 minutes, which is almost
the fuelling time. The advantage of batter swap is ease to manage, applicable for E-Ricks or Taxi fleet
etc., which are easier for unified standard and unified management. The replaced batteries will be
recharged at night time, which save power and enhance the economic running and safety of the grid.
24. Dealer / Swap Station Battery Company
E-Rick Driver
IncentivebyGOI
Swap station
construction &
operation cost.
Battery packing
DISCOMs
Electricity Fee
Money for batteries
Battery sale
26. • Establish perfect charging infrastructure service network.
• Supplementary mode: Choose different mode according to the requirement of E-Ricks, they can
swap the battery or charge it in the charging station.
• Better feasible with Fast charging stations i.e. through Lithium ion batteries.
• In future, Supplementary mode: Choose different mode according to different EV ( For city
buses swapping and cars with nonstandard batteries Fast chargers) in important location
E-Ricks Power Battery
Battery Swap
Station
Charging
Station
Plug-in charging plays core role
with battery swap station
combined.
Unified service and distribution
Lead Acid or Lithium ion battery charger
27. Study point
Survey Outcome
(Secondary Research)
Recommendation
• Possibility of Fast Charging, through Lead acid or Lithium Ion battery.
• Battery technology advancements in the world.
• Lithium ion batteries are highly efficient and better life than lead acid battery.(5 Years).
• Lithium ion batteries are 3 to 4 times costlier than Lead acid batteries but has better
life cycle cost than lead acid batteries and are 3 to 4 times lighter than lead acid batteries.
• Lithium ion batteries can be charged with 3 modes of charging methods TYPE-I, TYPE-II
and Fast charging, which gives a lot to flexibility .
• Encourage usage of Lithium ion batteries as there is no heavy metal content and also
leads to opening up of the EV market in Delhi.
• Due to its high costs , it can act as a deterrent to E-Ricks to shift towards Lithium ion
batteries, so policy can be made which offers subsidies towards usage of Lithium ion
batteries and the batteries can be provided on lease.
• Encourage the secondary market of Lithium ion batteries in promoting the use towards
Solar PV applications for street lighting etc. where lower levels of reliability is required.
This can help the business case of Lithium ion batteries attractive for E-Ricks. This could
significantly increase the total lifetime value of the battery, and thus reduce its cost to the
automotive user.
28. Study point
Survey Outcome
(Primary and Secondary
Research)
Recommendation
• All the parts used by the E-Ricks being sub-standard, whether the standards are followed
by the chargers that they get with the vehicle to charge the batteries
• No standards followed for the E-Ricks charger and such charging can inject harmonics
into the distribution grid and effect the power quality.
• Policy needs to ensure the charges follow the standards and work should be done in
setting up the standards for chargers.
• Consideration should also be towards Lithium ion battery charging standards followed
by the countries where the EV market is already established like USA, China etc.
• Subsidies for the Lithium batteries may be provided only if the standard chargers are used.
• ISGF along with the regulatory agency for setting up the charger standards can collaborate
to set up the standards for India
29. Study Point
Rule
Survey outcome
(Both Primary &
Secondary Research)
Recommendation
• What do E-Rick drivers do to the used lead acid batteries after their life.
• Harmful effects of Lead acid battery on environment and Health.
• Although a Deposit Refund System (DRS) is available for lead acid batteries in India
along with Batteries Management and Handling Rules (BMHR 2001), still a large
percentage of batteries are recycled by the informal sector in ways that are harmful to
health and the environment.
• The E-Rick owners give back the batteries to the dealers after their life and get a rebate
of 15 to 20% on the new set of batteries. The dealers sell it back in scrap, which are
then recycled by a third party.
• The recycling is done by the un-organized smelters and the battery manufacturers
rarely indulge in these activities.
• Batteries are not re-used for any other purpose after their life cycle.
• Causes harmful health hazards like birth defects and other behavioral and
• Battery manufacturers (mostly local) must be made responsible for the recycling of
the Lead acid batteries and the recycling process should be certified because even a
small quantity of lead can effect the ecosystem for a long time.
• Suitable infrastructure should be created to prevent handling of lead acid batteries by
the scrap dealers.
30. Lead Acid Battery Lithium Ion Battery
Limited Usable Capacity-Typically 30-50% Useable capacity is 80% or more of total capacity
Limited life cycle –Typically 400-500 cycles Extremely high cycle life- typically 2000-5000 cycles
High Maintenance Greater efficiency for big loads like Inverters & propulsion etc.
Very heavy reducing the efficiency (km/full charge) of the vehicle. Light weight approx. 33% of Lead acid battery
Charging is time consuming Can be changed at different speeds
15% of amps in are lost due to inherent charging inefficiency
Same amp-hours in as out. But their ability to hold a charge decays even
when the battery isn't in use.
Cheap Very costly( between 3-4 times)
31. • Lead-acid batteries contain sulphuric acid and huge quantities of lead. The acid is
highly corrosive and is also a good carrier of soluble lead and lead particulate.
• Lead is a highly toxic metal and leads to adverse health effects particularly in
young children.
• A single lead-acid battery disposed off incorrectly into a municipal solid waste
can contaminate 25 tonnes of (Municipal Sewage Waste) MSW and prevent the
recovery of the organic resources within this waste because of high heavy metal
contents.
• Lead from storage batteries placed in unlined landfills can even contaminate the
groundwater.
• Recycling of Lead acid batteries is not a simple process and has to be undertaken
by the companies under certain super vision as lead-acid battery recycling is
regarded as one of the worst polluting industries worldwide.
• Certain control measures should to be taken to prevent adverse impacts to people
and the ecology.
• Acid that is present in the batteries can enter the water system and contribute to
acid rain, according to an August 6th, 2002 report by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Due to acid rains even the buildings and monuments are damaged.
• Acid, when enters the ecosystem can cause life threatening dangers to the Flora
and Fauna and pollute the soil.
32. • The researchers found that batteries using cathodes with nickel and cobalt and
solvent-based electrode processing can lead to environmental as well as heath
problems .
• The environmental impacts include resource depletion, global warming, and
ecological toxicity .
• The health impacts are poor respiratory, pulmonary and neurological effects.
• The study also found that the electricity grids for charging lithium-ion batteries
contribute to global warming and other environmental and health impacts due to the
dependency on Coal based power plants.
• Mining of the metals like Lithium, Copper and Aluminum are also leading to
environmental impact.
• Li batteries are generally considered to be non hazardous waste as it doesn’t contain
any heavy metals.
33. STAKE
HOLDERS
Delhi Road
Transport
Authority &
Safety Dept. Renewable
energy
Companies
Charging /
Swap
Station
Owners
DISCOMs
EVSE
companiesBattery
Manufactur
ers &
Dealers
Vehicle
Manufactur
ers &
Dealers
Companies
working on
Electronic
control
systems
E-Ricks
Drivers &
Commuters
Government
&
Regulatory
Authorities
34. • Harmonize the standards
• Lithium ion usage and development of secondary market.
• Develop Charging Infrastructure
• R&D in battery and storage technology
• Localization of E-Rick manufacturing with proper safety and testing
standards and using better quality parts for assembly.
• EV introduction into the market.
• Human resource development and Foreign Investments.
S
T
A
K
E
H
O
L
D
E
R
S
• Business model development for charging infrastructure.
• Consulting for Vehicle’s public charging infrastructure development
and tariff determination and other required standards for the chargers
etc.
• Determining the secondary battery market for Lithium ion batteries.
• Various feasibility solutions with renewables as energy sources.
• Road map to integrate smart grid and E-Ricks.
35. • Comment-1: No License required for E-Ricks and are exempted from motor vehicle act.
a. In the present scenario with E-Ricks moving mainly for a limited distance might be a good point to make,
but with advancements in technologies and NEMMP 2020 policy that indicates high latent demand for
environmental friendly EV technologies, the range of E-Ricks might increase and in such cases un licensed
automotive cannot be viable.
b. Minimum age limit for the drivers has to be considered as drivers of E-Ricks are not licensed and doesn’t
fall under motor vehicle act.
c. Being a geared vehicle and run at speeds around 25 to 30km/h, do not solve the problem of unruly driving.
d. This increases the proliferation rate of E-Ricks in the market.
• Comment-2: 50 kg luggage and maximum of 4 people can travel in E-Ricks
a. This can be a safe mode of transport only when the automotive safety testing agencies like ARAI certify the
safety of these E-Ricks. A thought can be given in these lines.
• Comment-3: The Municipal Corporations will register the E-Ricks.
a. A special category of vehicles would have been made in the motor vehicle act for these E-Ricks with a
simple registration process and mandatory license requirement.
36. • E-Ricks through technological advancements in Batteries, Motors etc.
can replace the present cycle & auto rickshaws and can play a major role
in the development of pollution free Delhi.
• The E-Ricks because of environmental friendly nature and low cost are
proliferating into Tier II and Tier III cities like Aligarh, Vijayawada etc.
• The total advantage of the E-Ricks can be attained only when the
charging is done through the renewable sources of energy like Solar etc.
• Helps in reducing the dependency over the liquid fossil fuels and opens
up the market for the Electric vehicles not only in Delhi but also in
India.
• A proper road map can be made to develop the required infrastructure
for satisfying the needs of present with development towards future EV
market requirements.
• If a sustainable business model for E-Ricks is developed in Delhi, then
the same can be replicated in the other markets as well.
• These vehicles can be the power sources (distributed generation) which
can be a part of smart Grid. Also can be a part of M2M interaction.
37. • E-Ricks market has to be encouraged as this market is the stepping stone towards
the development of the Environmental friendly Automotive market segment.
• A centralized development of this market is necessary with developing in house
design and manufacturing units along with R&D in the field of Battery technology,
Electronic control systems and Motor technologies.
• Promote the use of Public charging stations as the proliferation of E-Ricks is going
to be in very large numbers, so that the effect on DISCOMs and Power quality can
be minimized.
• Promote the usage of Lithium ion batteries by changing the necessary design
parameters in the E-Ricks to mitigate the environmental effects of Lead acid
batteries.
• Infrastructure development has to be in accordance with the present technology but
the future markets should be considered as well. DISCOMS and Transport
Authorities should work in tandem for developing a well established charging
infrastructure for Delhi.
