Power Global, Rap Eco Motors to launch mass electric auto-rickshaw line powered by swappable battery technology
19 November 2021
Power Global, a leading provider of high-performance clean energy and mobility products for everyday applications, announced a strategic partnership to supply its eZee swappable lithium-ion battery technology to auto-rickshaw manufacturer Rap Eco Motors for its mass-market electric three-wheeler product line RANIE, which includes L3 and L5 models of a passenger auto-rickshaw, delivery van and cargo vehicle.
Following an initial product launch in April 2022, the companies will partner to manufacture 50,000 electric auto-rickshaws over the next five years, advancing both companies’ roadmaps for “made in India” manufacturing.
Power Global and Rap Eco Motors partner to deliver 50,000 made-in-India electric auto-rickshaws built upon the swappable eZee module.
The third-largest emitter globally, India has a strong dependence upon 2- and 4-stroke three-wheel vehicles powered by fossil fuels, which serve as essential last-mile transport yet contribute to the country’s air quality crisis. Simultaneously, with fuel prices surging as much as 20% in the last six months, and the cumulative costs of internal combustion engine-vehicle maintenance, drivers are increasingly turning to cost-effective electric auto-rickshaws as the modern and reliable vehicles of choice.
In an infrastructure-light country like India, automotive OEMs are embracing solutions such as battery swapping to further reduce the upfront cost of EVs to increase access and accelerate the nation’s clean energy transition.
Rap Eco Motors delivers premier e-rickshaws nationwide and abroad to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. The partnership with Power Global marks the Hyderabad-based company’s first step toward developing a comprehensive 360 solution for the OEM’s electric auto-rickshaws, RANIE, which is built upon Power Global’s 48-volt swappable eZee battery module.
In an ever-evolving auto-rickshaw market such as India, Power Global’s engineered solution allows Rap Eco Motors to leapfrog the costly and time-consuming process of developing an in-house electrification solution.
Compared to existing fossil fuel-powered auto-rickshaws on the road today, each RANIE vehicle is expected to cut CO2e emissions by 3.7 metric tons annually and eliminate dangerous NOx and PM tailpipe emissions that contribute to air pollution.
Power Global’s domestic battery production plant in Greater Noida is slated to be the country’s largest leading in-country manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, capable of producing 400,000 modules annually. Supporting India’s FAME II mandates, which are driving OEMs to develop electrification solutions, Power Global aims to deploy 10,000 batteries and light mobility electric retrofit kits supported by their battery swapping network by the end of 2022.
If there is any vehicle that should be electrified, it is these. They may not produce much in the way of CO2 but they are one of the major sources or particulate (smoke) pollution in many of the less developed parts of the world. The problem with what Rap Eco is proposing is that it is no where near enough to make a dent in the problem. They are going to produce 50,000 vehicles over the next 5 years while the largest producer of these vehicles in India, Bajaj Auto of Pune, India sold 780,000 vehicles during the 2019 fiscal year. I would think that the economics of going electric would push this faster. Because the batteries are relative small and light and can be plugged in by hand, this is one place where battery swapping should work.
Posted by: sd | 19 November 2021 at 07:58 PM