Vehicle emissions from Delhi’s auto rickshaws and other petrol vehicles count for an average of 23% of pollutants in the air. Photograph: DB Pictures/Alamy
The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover.
On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end of the decade.
The policies, which will phase out new petrol and gas scooters, trucks and buses in the capital over the next two years, have beIn recent years, transport has been one of the highest contributors to Delhi’s air pollution, which is consistently at levels dangerously high to human health and has become an emergency in the capital, linked totens of thousands of deaths each year.
Scooters and rickshaws – which largely run on petrol and compressed fossil gas – account for more than two-thirds of the tens of millions of vehicles on Delhi’s roads. Under the new policy, India’s capital will now issue new licence plates only to electric small trucks and three-wheelers, known as e-rickshaws, from 2027, and to e-scooters and electric motorbikes from 2028.
The Delhi government said it hoped the move would lead to an electrification of at least 30% of the capital’s vehicle fleet by 2030. “The policy focuses on pure EVs, which offer superior environmental benefits as zero-emission vehicles,” Delhi’s government said in a statement on Monday.
Amit Bhatt, the managing director or the International Council on Clean Transportation, said: “The proposed phaseout of two- and three-wheelers could be a gamechanger in Delhi’s fight against air pollution.”
Emphasising that scooters, rickshaws and trucks accounted for most of the vehicles on Delhi’s roads, Bhatt added that “accelerating their transition to zero-emission vehicles can significantly reduce vehicular emissions, improve public health, and pave the way for a broader transition to zero-emission transport across all vehicle segments”.
The Delhi state government, run by the Bharatiya Janata party, which also governs at national level, had faced significant criticism and numerous protests during the winter after it was accused of doing nothing to tackle the dangerously high pollution levels that lasted for months.
According to the government’s own figures, vehicle emissions count for an average of 23% of pollutants in the air, making it the highest single source of emissions, particularly during the toxic winter months when a thick smog routinely cloaks the city.
E-rickshaws have become an increasingly familiar sight on Delhi’s roads over the past two years, but the lack of charging points has made drivers reluctant to switch over. Under the new policy, the government has pledged to establish more than 30,000 public charging points across the capital.
Vikas Nimesh, an assistant professor at the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi, also used the phrase “gamechanger”.
He emphasised that the availability of affordable Indian electric vehicles was rapidly expanding, with Delhi already India’s largest market. Nimesh expressed optimism that the new policy would provide impetus for manufacturers to invest in new green technology and “come up with more EV models” to provide greater consumer choice and competition.
News of the policy had yet to reach most of the city’s millions of auto-rickshaw drivers. Sitting in the shade of his rickshaw cab, parked in Delhi’s busy Connaught Place, Rajesh Gopi, 37, said he was sceptical that any real transition could take place in only two years and worried the electric vehicles would not provide the same earnings.
“I have heard that the e-rickshaws need charging a lot and can’t travel as far as we can on gas,” he said. “If I have to wait one or two hours every day for charging, that’s lost income for me that I can’t afford. I also don’t know how to maintain an e-rickshaw or stop the batteries getting stolen.”
However, he conceded that the city’s pollution was unbearable for rickshaw drivers forced to breathe in deadly fumes. “I am not against change and making the air clean, but I hope we are not the ones to pay the price,” said Gopi.
The policy also introduced significant road and vehicle tax exemptions for people buying new electric cars, in an attempt to incentivise drivers to switch over by choice. However, some critics expressed concern that two years was too short a window to phase out new petrol scooters and rickshaws and ensure there was enough consumer choice.
Despite running into initial delays, Ola has significantly ramped up production of its high-speed smart electric scooters. Now the Indian company says it will be opening up a new payment window soon to complete more orders of its Ola S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters.
Those scooters have made waves in the industry for their combination of high performance and low prices.
Ola’s electric scooters offer a maximum speed of 115 km/h (71 mph) yet start at an affordable INR 99,999 (approximately US $1,350).
Ola originally intended to deliver the first scooters several months ago, but deliveries only began in December after production delays.
Production rates appeared to have soared though, as the company boasted a daily rate of nearly 1,000 scooters at the beginning of the year.
The scooters are produced in a megafactory known as the Ola Futurefactory. It has an intended designed capacity of two million electric scooters per year, or around 5,500 per day.
Plans include expanding the production capacity of the entirely female-run factory to upwards of 10 million electric scooters per year.
Now that production appears to be ramping up, Ola has announced plans to open a new window for payments.
Reservation holders that have laid down 20,000 INR (approximately US $270) will be able to make a final payment starting Jan 21. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal confirmed that those deliveries would occur over January and February.
The Microlino, a retro EV inspired by the classic Isetta/BMW microcar, is getting a redesign despite not having gone on sale yet. Now dubbed Microlino 2.0, the tiny EV is scheduled to appear at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show. A redesign was necessary in order to meet certain internal safety standards, according to a press release from Micro Mobility, the car's manufacturer. That necessitated changing the vehicle's structure and increasing the rear track width, along with all of its overall dimensions. In addition, Micro Mobility said it redesigned the interior and gave the Microlino a more powerful electric motor. The company hasn't published updated specifications. In its original form, the Microlino had a 20-horsepower motor, granting it a top speed of 55 mph. Micro Mobility said the original price of $13,600 will not change. First shown in 2016, the Microlino is a modern, all-electric homage to the Isetta, a microcar designed to economically remobilize Europe after the devastation of World War II. The original Isetta was designed by Italian firm Iso, which later built the Grifo and Rivolta sports cars. But it's probably better known as a BMW, as the German firm built far more cars under license than Iso itself did. The redesigned Microlino will be displayed in Geneva alongside a concept electric scooter called the Microletta, which has a top speed of 49 mph. That would normally require a motorcycle license in Europe, according to Micro Mobility; the company circumvented it by giving the Microletta two front wheels, similar to the Toyota I-Road. Micro Mobility plans to sell the Microlino in Europe and China, but not the United States, in part because it is unlikely the car would pass U.S. crash tests.
Gogoro, the Taiwanese manufacturer of battery-swapping electric scooters, showed off huge growth in 2019. As the company prepares to expand globally in 2020, could this be the beginning of the end for gas[petrol]-powered scooters? It certainly could be. And in fact it’s already happening in the East. In Gogoro’s native Taiwan, where scooters are the dominant form of transportation instead of cars, the company is now the second-largest player in the scooter market. And not just the electric scooter market — but the entire scooter market. Only KYMCO is leading the startup Gogoro for market share, and that company has a huge incumbent advantage. In just the electric scooter market, Gogoro maintains over 80% of the market share. Now Gogoro has announced that its sales more than doubled in 2019, up over 105% compared to the previous year, according to the Taipei Times. With its 55 mph (90 km/h) electric scooters, swappable batteries and a vast network of battery swap stations, Gogoro has proven incredibly popular in its domestic market. After already achieving unicorn status (a startup worth over $1 billion), the company has sets its sights on global expansion. The first country to receive Gogoro electric scooters for retail customers is Israel, which is likely a stepping stone on the way to expanded European operations and (hopefully) eventually US operations.
Throughout the developing countries in Asia, scooters have bigger sales than cars. Electric scooters are likely to take off before electric cars, because their costs (up-front and running) are so much lower. Good for pollution and the climate.
