E-trikes to rule in Manila

[scott h]

The biggest challenge I see it the fleet trikes. Here in Manila, most trikes are rented from a company and the drivers hot seat them. The owners wont make any money while the trike is down for recharging.

Lots of private individuals own them though, and I agree, you can not hear the buggers coming lolol

[not so old china hand]

On 09/29/2016 at 0:44 AM, sonjack2847 said:

I have seen the ones with the cart with a roof and seats on the back. But like you say the way they pack stuff in over here would they be strong enough.From the downtown market to here the tri cycles want 7 passengers and they all have goods with them,so how long would electric vehicles be able to carry on working before the battery ran down.

The man who delivers my bottled water uses a small electric trike with a drop-side truck bed (it looks like a miniature pickup truck). His standard load is 12 20-litre bottles so 240kg plus the driver and a mate. That's six local passengers three Brits or one ....

Now this is the smallest size. Parked near my apartment is a much larger three-wheeler with a truck bed as large as a medium sized jeepney. It's used for hauling steel scaffold poles so lord knows what that load weighs. A quick look underneath showed three large (150 ah?) lead-acid batteries. Unusual since most e-vehicles here use 48 volts: perhaps I miss-counted or one was under the seat.

The little three wheel delivery vans are kept running all day: the drivers complain they don't even have time to eat. So the battery capacity would seem to be enough for an eight or ten-hour shift.

On the topic of battery type I think most commercial e-vehicles use lead-acid since they are cheap, and bulk and weight is not an issue. Some up-market e-bikes and scooters used Lithium batteries since they offer greater range and are lighter, a benefit since most people remove their batteries when parking outside (to avoid theft).

[not so old china hand]

17 hours ago, scott h said:

The biggest challenge I see it the fleet trikes. Here in Manila, most trikes are rented from a company and the drivers hot seat them. The owners wont make any money while the trike is down for recharging.

One way round this is to swap out batteries at the end of a shift. The greater availability offsetting the increased capital expenditure (maybe).

There are several delivery companies with depots on my street, each with a small fleet of e-vans outside. The batteries are taken inside the shop for charging at night: both for convenience and to deter joy-riders.

[Happyhorn52]

October 15th has come and gone! How are all the new E-trikes in Manila working out?

[Jack Peterson]

8 hours ago, Happyhorn52 said:

October 15th has come and gone! How are all the new E-trikes in Manila working out?

 

[scott h]

This quote from the original article might have something to do with it.

"To do this, the city government needs a budget of P120 million for 10,000 seven-seater e-trikes."