E - Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages

E – Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages


Introduction

E – rickshaws or Electric rickshaws have been becoming more popular in most parts of the globe since 2008. In India, e – rickshaws began to gain popularity since 2011.

As these rickshaws faced a ban by the Indian government in the capital city of Delhi, the increase in their number failed. But, still they are widely used in most parts of the country.

On 8 October,2014, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had notified the rules to regulate the e- rickshaws by making important amendments under the Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989. In March 2015, the Parliament passed the amendments and finally, legalized the use of electric rickshaws.

Recently, the transport department decided to introduce these e-rickshaws in four major cities of Maharashtra – Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik.

Now, that these new age vehicles will be available on the streets soon, let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of e-rickshaws.

Advantages of e-rickshaws

1. Eco – friendly – E-rickshaws can be the best alternative to petrol or diesel run vehicles as they are operated on battery. These rickshaws do not emit smoke and thus, will not contribute to the increasing air pollution. The batteries which will be used for the functioning of these rickshaws can be effectively recycled and thus, will solve the problem of battery disposal.

2. Economical – E-rickshaws are comparatively cheap and can be easily afforded by a common man. Passengers will have to pay a less transport charge. It is cost effective not only for the consumers but also for the owners. The batteries can be easily recharged from home or from any place that provides a proper voltage.

3. Free from noise pollution – E-rickshaws are free from creating noise pollution as they do not emit any sound. Passengers can have a smooth and comfortable ride.

4. Livelihood – E-rickshaws provide a means of livelihood for the common as well as illiterate people. Without investing much of money, the e-rickshaw drivers can earn a good livelihood.

5. Safety – E-rickshaws involve less risk when compared to the other fuel operating vehicles. They can cause less accident as they are slower and lighter than an auto rickshaw. There is a chance of explosion in the case of fuel operating vehicles.

6. Easy maintenance – As they use electricity, they do not require fuel to operate the engines. E-rickshaws are free from an engine and a gear box and thus, the burden of maintenance is reduced. The motor which is used in these rickshaws is smaller and the battery is placed below it. Hence, maintaining them is quite easier.

Disadvantages of e-rickshaws

1. Less speed – E-rickshaws are usually slow in speed and it runs around 30-35 kmph and thus, it is unable to meet the speed of other vehicles. It is not a preferred mode of transportation during an emergency period.

2. Less weight – E-rickshaws are lighter in weight and thus, it would face difficulty to cope up with the larger wight vehicles. There might be a chance of the rickshaw getting upside down. In India, one can imagine how the drivers would ride an overloaded e-rickshaw.

3. Harmful batteries – One of the major disadvantage is the issue of batteries. Today, most of the batteries used are lead acid batteries. The deep discharge of lead acid batteries are presently imported in India and these can be very harmful.

4. No proper guidelines – There are no proper rules and guidelines fixed for the functioning of e-rickshaws. The drivers are not fully trained to drive the e-rickshaws. This is a matter of serious concern in the society.

5. Space Consuming - The current design of e-rickshaw is quite space consuming. This would lead to traffic jams.

6. Rise in pollution and cost due to alternative energy sources - Even though the e-rickshaws would not consume diesel or petrol, it would be difficult to contain the cost and pollution. The electricity required to charge these vehicles would be produced from some or the other source. Burning more coal or making more dams or nuclear reactors would still contribute to environment pollution.
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    Discussion

  • RE: E – Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages -Ammar Kapasi (02/15/16)
  • Launching an e-rickshaw is a good invention because the people who are unable to live thier kivelihood properly can easily afford these type of vehicle and can earn a good amount of money to live a peacefull life.
    Advantage and disadvantage are those that are:
    Advantages:
    1- poor people who has to travel on daily basis can easily afford to travel by such vehicles
    2- poor people who have no skills can atleast earn their livelihood by atleast running an e rickshaw
    3- thier will be a huge compromise in enviornemental pollution.
    4- no heavy maintanence and easy to ride
    5- pollution free and eco friendly to the enviornment.

    Disadvantage:
    1- less number of people can travel at a time.
    2- heavy load barring is not allowed because due to light weight it can turn upside down
    3- as it is runned by batteries, somewhat problems and drawbacks can be found during rainy seasons.
    4- cannot travel long distances and even cannot run on hilly mountanious areas.
    5- due to battery the speed is comparetively slow.
  • RE: E – Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages -Bhupesh (01/02/16)
  • E-Rikshaws are eco-friendly.Their maintanence is zero in comparision to auto-rickshows.
  • RE: E – Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages -rameesha rashid khan (01/01/16)
  • Good you launch e-rickshaws i love it.
  • RE: E – Rickshaws: Advantages and Disadvantages -Deepa Kaushik (06/18/15)
  • E-rickshaws have their own advantages and disadvantages. These can be cnsidered as a good option for commuting, though we cannot tag them to be the best. The E-Rickshaws being battery operated vehicles can be considered as a good replacement for the fuel consuminmg vehicles.

    The E-Rickshaws are definitely better than the manual rickshaws which requires a heavy physical labour of cycling. The efforts put in to this form of battery operated vehicle is very much similar to the fuel consuming vehicles. Also, these E-Rickshaws can be created in a manner to accomodate more people than the manual rickshaws.

    Still, we cannot consider the battery vehicles to be a replacement for the fuel combusting ones, as the battery vehicles cannot give a zooming efficiency to match the efficacy of the current vehicle forms. The speed of the E-rickshaws can be better over the manual vehicles, but that could be no option for a long distance travel. Again the light weight of these E-Rickshaws is another drawback with the fear of getting upside down due to over-loading.

    The cost-efficient E-rickshaws could be boon for the poor people who cannot afford to own an auto-rickshaw to run their livelihood. But, we need to have certain checks on the driving of these rickshaws. As these are battery operated, so definitely the speed is more as compared to the manual vehicles, which require certain restrictions and a defined route for their travel. Permitting them within the residential colonies might be a bit risky.