Bengaluru startup beckons drivers with 500 electric auto-rickshaws, easy loans

Unveils plan to get fleet of 10,000 by 2022 fiscal year

Pushing for a big switch to electric auto-rickshaws, Bengaluru-based startup Three Wheels United (TWU) has come up with a grand plan to hand-hold drivers to buy or rent the e-vehicles, its first phase kicking off with 500 e-autos.

On the startup's agenda for the 2021-22 fiscal year is a fleet of 10,000 e-autos in Bengaluru, Delhi, Kerala, Chitradurga, Ballari, Hosapete, Tumakuru and Mysuru, TWU's co-founder Kevin Wervenbos told DH. Wervenbos, Cedrick Tandong and Apurv Mehra had founded the startup in 2017.

Dissuaded by the high down payment and interest rates in existing financing options, LPG auto drivers were reluctant to switch to electric. This, despite the cost of ownership of e-autos being almost 30% lower. As Kevin put it, TWU chose to address this through affordable 'green asset' financing.

Here's how the TWU model works: "Drivers could either take a loan for the entire asset, repayable in three-four years or take the vehicle on daily rental for three months before deciding to buy or quit. The third option is to go for a full rental mode," explains Kevin.

Going beyond financing, TWU worked on putting in place a platform for e-mobility. The startup sourced the e-autos from Mahindra and Piaggio. "Piaggio auto-rickshaws are equipped with swappable batteries from Sun Mobility (another Bengaluru-based firm) while Mahindra autos have the regular batteries."

But the lack of a wide charging station network in the city has been a challenge. "We have tried to address this by mapping all the available charging points on our mobile app downloaded by the drivers," says Kevin.

Range anxiety

Range anxiety, the fear of running out of battery, could improve with an increase in network density. Sun Mobility has proposed to set up 100 battery-swapping stations in the city this year. "On average, the battery range is about 120 km. But drivers do not let batteries drain out, they recharge when it is down to 10%-20%."

Enthused by the response from drivers, TWU has now proposed to launch a pilot of 100 electric delivery vehicles in Bengaluru and replicate it in Delhi two months later.

Till date, the startup has worked with over 30,000 drivers in multiple states and financed over 3,000 to switch from two-stroke to LPG vehicles. This, Wervenbos says, has resulted in the reduction of 22,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. TWU is now fully focussed on e-vehicles.