Go to any part of India and one would notice colorful hooded tricycles parked in every city street corner or being pedalled away. That’s a cycle rickshaw, a popular mode of transport in congested areas of the city. The rickshaw, as it is commonly called, is the only non-polluting commercial vehicle in India and the sole means of earning livelihood for over 5 million people of India’s 1.14 billion population. And it’s hard work. To pedal or pull a rickshaw with a combined weight of over 150 kg including the passengers entails strenuous manual labor. The task is not only arduous but also causes various ailments to rickshaw drivers.

Zero carbon emission, low noise, suspension system for passenger comfort and lower footboard for easy mount

Now after over 100 years of the rickshaw era, scientists at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi have found a pollution-free solution to end the bane of this large populace by developing solar electric rickshaw, named as Soleckshaw. It is a rickshaw that is driven partly by pedal and partly by electric power supplied by a battery that is charged from solar energy. The initiative has come as a small step towards improving life of 800 million people who are living below the poverty line, including 5 million rickshaw-pullers. Though auto rickshaws, vehicles driven on fossil fuel, are also an economical means of transport and are used by millions of commuters, soleckshaw with its zero carbon footprint promises cleaner environment, providing quality of life for rickshaw-pullers without any reliance on fuel.

SAFE

Soleckshaw has been developed by a team of scientists at CSIR national laboratory, Central Mechanical and Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) in Durgapur, West Bengal. The CMERI team has designed it to be a stable and safe vehicle which can be driven economically.

The pedicab is motor-assisted and therefore is likely to be driven easily both on plain area as well as uphill, without any risk of imbalance which currently all rickshaws suffer from. “The override mechanism on the rear axle ensures that both the rear wheels supply equal traction, making up for the balance of the vehicle and ease in taking turns,” explains Gopal Sinha, director at Advanced Institute of Science and Training, New Delhi an independent organization promoted by CSIR. Sinha was the project advisor of soleckshaw. He says, “One of the main aims of soleckshaw is to reduce the effort required to pull a rickshaw. The 36V motor has been used to ‘assist’ the driver in pedalling. Even though it may not relieve him of pedalling, it will definitely make the task almost effortless for him.”

Besides, the rickshaw driver’s seat has been designed to give him more comfort. The seat is adjustable and so he would not have to stand on the pedals all the time. A suspension system has been used to ensure smooth ride. For increased safety of both the driver and the passengers, all the three wheels have the braking system. Aesthetics have also been taken care of and the new pedicab is loaded with features such as headlight, tail lamp, and indicators. For passenger comfort, the soleckshaw has lower footboard which is likely to provide ease mount for everyone, including children, senior citizens, and the disabled.

INSIGHT

So how does the entire machinery work? There is a brush less direct-current (BLDC) motor controller at the centre of the soleckshaw’s handle. The driver inserts and rotates the ignition key provided in the controller to switch on the connection. On the right handle a throttle is provided, which generates power on being rotated. After the connection is established, the driver needs to start pedalling the soleckshaw and then rotate the throttle to get the power at the front wheel. Near the throttle on the right handle a push button is provided to select between two drive modes. The driver can first pedal and then turn the throttle to get assistance from the BLDC motor while pedalling or he could use the throttle first for minimal assistance from the motor and then begin pedalling. The first mode is said to be the most economic and recommended mode. Adopting the first mode will lead to faster pick up of soleckshaw and once it picks up speed the driver will get full assistance from the motor, having to pedal with minimal effort.

The new pedicab with seating capacity of two to three passengers and a payload of 150-200 kg (excluding the driver) is expected to speed up to 15 kmph. The rear wheels of soleckshaw are manually driven while the front wheel is driven by BLDC electric hub motor which is mounted on the wheel. The motor, which weighs approximately 5 kg, is powered by 36V, 18AH lead acid battery which is charged by solar energy. Run on a simple, light transmission system, the soleckshaw’s BLDC hub motor is a traction type motor that is capable of supplying high torque at low speed, with no need for gears on plains. However, for areas where the road gradient is high, a soleckshaw with gears will also be available on order.

For better traction control of the vehicle, sprocket and chain drive are complemented with an override mechanism at the centre of the rear axle. The box type solar battery, weighing approximately 15 kg, has been placed underneath the passenger seat to give easy access for replacement at the solar charging stations. The soleckshaw battery can also be charged with domestic 15 ampere power socket. However, scientists say it will no longer remain a green vehicle if charged with electricity. Therefore, they want the battery to be charged only at the solar charging stations. “There should not be a need to charge the battery with electricity as we plan to make the charged batteries easily available round the clock. Each solar charging station will be able to charge 10 batteries in 24 hours. The stations will be open 24/7 and will be able to save the solar energy in a battery for charging other batteries,” explains Sinha. According to him, the future models of soleckshaw will not have electric power charging facility.