Meghana KandraE-Rickshaws with Audi E-Tron batteries were built by trained in Neckarsulm. These rickshaws are to be launched into the Indian market. A preview of an Audi-badged rickshaw was released, giving a glimpse of how the vehicle would look.
Image credits- HT Auto
Powered with the aid of used battery modules taken from Audi E-Tron check vehicles, these electric-powered rickshaws serve the motive of displaying how modules made with high-voltage batteries can be reused after their vehicle existence cycle and emerge as a doable second-life use case. As a secondary purpose, the three electric-powered rickshaws will fortify job opportunities for ladies in India, transporting their items to market for sale besides the want for intermediaries.
Funded via the Audi Environmental Foundation, the Nunam non-profit startup developed the three prototypes in collaboration with the education crew at Audi’s Neckarsulm site, marking the first joint challenge between each Audi AG and the Audi Environmental Foundation in addition to Nunam. The e-rickshaws powered through used Audi E-Tron battery modules are scheduled to hit Indian roads for the first time in a pilot challenge in early 2023. The startup’s foremost aim is to advance approaches to use ancient batteries as second-life electricity storage systems, for this reason, each extends their lives and the usage of sources greater efficiency.
Eco-friendly vehicles
Nunam cofounder Prodip Chatterjee said, “Car batteries are designed to last the life of the car. But even after their initial use in a vehicle, they still have a lot of their power. For vehicles with lower range and power requirements, as well as the lower overall weight, they are extremely promising. In our second-life project, we reuse batteries from electric cars in electric vehicles; you might call it electric mobility ‘lite.’ In this way, we’re trying to find out how much power the batteries can still provide in this demanding use case.”
Why begin with rickshaws? Chatterjee says these cars have “a perfect eco-efficiency” as the electric-powered motor would not have to be specifically powerful, supporting the automobile to gain a comparatively low weight. Furthermore, the high-energy-density battery is the greatest to frequent e-rickshaws presently in use in India that function lead-acid batteries, which have a fantastically quick carrier existence and are frequently no longer disposed of properly. And whilst regular rickshaw drivers cost their motors in particular with public grid electricity, which has an excessive share of coal-fired electricity in India, Nunam’s e-rickshaws will cost the use of electricity from photo voltaic charging stations set up at nearby partner’s premises.
In addition to the three rickshaws supposed for street use in India, Audi trainees at the Neckarsulm website are growing an extra exhibit rickshaw in cooperation with Nunam. The car will be on show and on hand for check drives at the Greenwich Festival in Berlin from June 22.