E-rickshaws in Dwarka- Jan 3, 2012
Back in Dwarka to pick up cousin and niece for a mall crawl today, I saw up close and front the swank, new electric rikshas that are plying in Dwarka sub-city now. Attractively designed, 25 such rikshas are already operational and 250 more are to be on the roads by March. A riksha owner has to pay Rs 100 per day to own the Rs 72000 vehicle in a three-year period. The rikshas are fitted with a rechargeable battery, that runs 70-80 kilometres on full charge and offer a speed of upto 30 km per hour.
The yellow swank e-rikshas at Dwarka, a sight for sore eyes and sore butts for residents of the sub-city who heavily depend on cycle rikshas for transport
Residents seem thrilled at the comfortable, faster ride, while riksha pullers are saved a lot of back-breaking work! This one posed for me 🙂
I am a little uncertain though, whether these are the same as the ‘Solekshaws’ that the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISR) unveiled last year. That model has a motor powered by a solar powered battery, which is intended to to be recharged at solar stations for a nominal fee. The riksha puller can also pedal those, and I saw the Dwarka ones being pedaled as well as driven on battery. Am curious to find out how the Dwarka riksha batteries get recharged. From what media reports I found, the initiative is part of a self-employment programme run by the state BJP. There seems to be a tie-up with battery providers for recharging.
Will have my Dwarka cousins inform me if more of these arrive in March and do some first-hand interviews to answer the above questions!
Posted on January 3, 2012, in Urban Planning & Policy and tagged public transport, transit. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
ramblinginthecity 
I saw a different one…lil bit more fancy design at old Delhi……. interesting that they just have to pay Rs. 100 per day, as the normal cycle rickshaw fellow also have to pay Rs. 50 just as rent….here at least the rider will be owner at some point……
true, but am still skeptical about the recharge mechanism. if it isn’t solar, it kind of takes away from the point!
I hope the Delhi govt starts integrating these as part of their city transportation plans.
Very cool, like e-rickshaws- I always try and sit light (if you know what I mean- not that it makes any difference) on the regular cycle rickshaws. And have never taken the Calcutta hand-pulled rickshaws- if he can pull, I can walk- but attitude like that has made it hard for them to earn their livelihood (actually, am not even sure that they still exist). Anyway, very cool! Thanks for sharing.
Nice initiative.. I didn’t know about these. I can’t see many changes in terms of the physical design. Though, I am glad to see that now the overhead roof covers the rickshaw driver too.
Btw, I like the term “mall crawl”. Did you coin it?