E Tuk Tuk

Product Description

E Tuk Tuk is a 3 or 4-wheeled vehicle that operates solely on solar power. It can travel up to 50 Km/day at a speed of 30 Km/h, with a maximum load of 50 kg. ^{Interview with manufacturer} It can also travel up small inclines at a speed of 20 Km/h. E Tuk Tuk offers the option of using excess electricity from the battery to provide for a home in off-grid rural communities. The needs of a home start at 250 J/day, while storage capacity of the vehicle starts at 1500 J/day under normal sun conditions.

Market Suggested Retail Price

$1,000.00

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

Solar E Cycles

Manufacturing/Building Method

E Tuk Tuk is designed and manufactured locally using readily available components in the market. ^{Interview with manufacturer}

Intellectural Property Type

Open Source

User Provision Model

The product is still in the prototype stage.

Distributions to Date Status

None. The product is still in the research and development phase. As of 2018, the company has produced 10 prototypes.

Design Specifications

E Tuk Tuk is composed of the following: a 300 W solar panel, 350 W DC motors, MPPT charge controller, motor drives, accelerator and a 12 V, 40 AH battery.^{Interview with manufacturer}

Technical Support

Provided by the manufacturer

Replacement Components

Replaceable components include the solar panel and battery.

Lifecycle

Panels have an expected lifetime of 25 years, the batteries 6 years, and the motor 10 years. ^{Interview with manufacturer}

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Mobility and power that can pay for itself

Vetted Performance Status

None

Safety

The manufacturer has included reflectors, a braking system and lights in the design. ^{Interview with manufacturer}

Complementary Technical Systems

None

Academic Research and References

Udupa, G., Freeman, J., Nimbewal, V., Choudhary, R. K., Sasikumar, S., Nair, S. V., 2016, Design and manufacture of Amrita Surya Vahini — A solar auto rickshaw, International Conference on Robotics and Automation for Humanitarian Applications (RAHA), pp. 1-6

Mulhall, P., Lukic, S. M., Wirasingha, S. G., Lee, Y., Emadi,A., 2009, Solar/battery electric auto rickshaw three-wheeler, IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference, pp. 153-159

Reddy, N. N., Sarma, P. S., 2012, Solar Powered Vehicle, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering (IJARCSEE), 1(10), pp. 36-39

Sameeullah, M., Chandel, S., 2016, Design and analysis of solar electric rickshaw: A green transport model, International Conference on Energy Efficient Technologies for Sustainability (ICEETS), pp. 206-211

Saleh, N., Mushtaq, K., Zaidi, A.A., Abbasoglu, S., Faiz Ahmed, S., 2016, Design and Performance Analysis of a Solar Powered Hybrid Rickshaw for Commercial Use in Pakistan, Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 9, pp. 472-480

Compliance with regulations

The manufacturer is still working on the design to be compliant with international regulations. ^{Interview with manufacturer}

Other Information

Users pay a small deposit (100 USD = 10000 KES) at first to lend the product followed by monthly payments of 50 USD (5000 KES) using M-Pesa, mobile phone-based money transfer service. This way, users can own the tuk tuk within 3 years.