E-trikes get the green light.
2012-12-11 14:13
ENVIRONMENTALLY AND WALLET FRIENDLY: The e-trike is a cost-effective and green alternative to the fuel burning,conventional trikes used in Manila.
MANILA,
Philippines - This island nation is to roll out 100 000 electric
tricycles in an effort to rid its cities of the smelly petrol-powered
ones that ply its cities.
The
Asian Development Bank hopes the "e-trikes" will provide an alternative
to the smoke-belching motorised tricycles which ferry Manilans along
narrow streets not served by buses.
WAY FORWARD
ADB
energy specialist Sohail Hasnie said the bank hoped the e-trikes would
eventually replace some of the estimated 3.5-million motorcycles and
tricycles in use across the country. He said in a video message: "It
will not stop at e-trike. It will expand horizontally to other transport
such as buses... and once that happens, nationwide, the country's
consumption of oil will come down."
The more than R4-billion project received the green-light on Tuesday but a launch date has not been set.
The
e-trikes, powered by an electric motor with rechargeable lithium-ion
batteries, cost only R10 for a daily charge compared to the R70 in fuel a
normal tricycle burns every day, the ADB said. There had been generally
favourable reaction to a pilot project of 20 e-trikes in service in
Manila since l2011, the bank said.
Five solar charging stations will be built so the e-trikes can be powered without drawing on the electrical grid.
Other
countries have also expressed interest in the e-trikes, Hasnie said,
and the Philippines hopes to become a centre for their manufacture.