Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The world is getting warmer and polluted than ever before with every passing day. Terms like global warming and climate change have ceased to be mere buzzwords, making a new generation of Earth’s inhabitants worry about the ecological destruction that we’ve wrought on our lil blue planet for far too long.
In developing countries like Pakistan, where most couldn’t give two hoots about environmental-friendly initiatives, it’s not every day that we hear of something that could make our cynical selves sit up and take notice.
That something would be Zar Motors, an environmentally-responsible company that provides Electric Rickshaws and Loader Vehicles with non-combustible engine in Pakistan. And from what we’ve seen, this bodes well for Pakistan’s future.
Begone Gas-Guzzlers, Its Time for Electric-Powered Vehicles
No petrol or CNG required?
This alone can help the average Pakistani trucker or rickshaw wala to sit up and take notice. And if that wasn’t enough, the US-based Zar Motors offers a clean alternative to the Pakistani transportation industry. And that too at an affordable price tag.
The conversation these days might be dominated with Metros, but the real revolution is in electric-powered rickshaws and loader vehicles that companies like the aforementioned Zar Motors offers.
Let’s take a look at what Zar Motors offers.
Zar Minicab
This electric-powered 3 wheeler takes 2 hours to charge up to 80 percent capacity. And it can go 130km to 150 km with a full charge.
The Zar Minicab has space for 3 passengers plus a driver, and is also comfortable when compared with the average rick you see on the roads these days.
Estimated Price of Zar Minicab: Rs. 240,000/-
To find out more about the Minicab, see here.
Zar Loader
The electric-powered loader is perfect for hauling off weight upto 750kg, making it a worthy alternative to the Suzuki Carry trucks normally in use here.
Its eco-friendly design and economical fuel engine makes it a good buy.
Estimated Price of Zar LOADER: Rs. 250,000/-
To find out more about the Loader, see here.
Both Zar Loader and Zar Minicab comes with warranties, that include:
- Batteries: 18 months
- Motor: 12 months
- Charger: 12 months
- Controller: 12 months
A Zar Motor’s representative told ProPakistani that Gel Batteries used in Zar Motors are maintenance free and have an average life of around three years or more. He, however, didn’t share any price of batteries if they are to be replaced after three years’ time. For a full charge, it takes 3-4 hrs.
Why the entry of an Entity like Zar Motors is a Huge Deal for the Pakistani Market?
For an investor-friendly market like Pakistan, there is a serious dearth of consumer-friendly and environmental-friendly players here. Companies like Zar Motors are a welcome change for the Pakistani consumer, bringing in a semblance of sanity in a cutthroat market environment that allows corporate companies to get away with unscrupulous anti-consumer practices. Case in point, vis-à-vis the current Pakistani automobile industry players and their partners.
We have a dilapidated and broken transportation system in most parts of the country. And not to mention how noisy and polluting they can be. The rickshaws and loaders offered by Zar come with environmental friendly features that not only reduce the carbon footprint by an enormous margin, but also don’t go off like a machine gun as far as their sound is concerned.
This is because Zar Motors’ philosophy is in line with United Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), something that should adopted by more multinationals operating in Pakistan.
But the most important thing here is how a company like this can kill two birds with one stone – poverty and pollution. The company promises spare parts availability and almost zero maintenance, an added plus for a company that aims to make a humongous social impact around Pakistan.
For those worried about the company not passing governmental seal of approval, rest assured, because Zar has the support of all Pakistani provincial governments as well as the Engineering Development Board (EDB) and Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).
If this a solution for poor’s, who will bear cost of the batteries after 3 years? Also considering the high energy cost in Pakistan what will be the charging cost? Finally how will charging take place? Will the owner have to return to his house for charging? What about loadshedding? Will the driver make his customer wait 1 hour for electricity return & then maybe 2 hours for charge to complete in case he forgets to charge?
The same thing popped into my mind while reading this .
Such a poor thing though that such hugely awesome ideas are offset due to the country’s own mistakes ?
this is definitely the solution and youre pointing at issues at something of a great idea that has just surfaced, i mean how can the issues be highlighted before them occuring?? this is childish point of view….even so, I can compare all these issues to the current fuel powered rickshaws….like if its battery can die after 3 years than i can also say there is no rickshaw whose battery and engine wont need maintenance after 3 year, normally a replacement is required in this time period as this is a common norm. i can also compare charging issue to gas filling issue where the gas is absolutely not available daily and you have to lineup in long ques every time you need to fill gas, ppl preferably come by fajr time to avoid queus so same methods can be done to keep your rickshaw pre-charged as it can run upto 150km in 1 go (khi to hyd is possible in 1 go, what more time do you need to recharge??), aur to aur baita kunda ka baray me khyal h? charging karna bohot hi asan hay bitwa….aur electric parts honay ka matlab less moving parts matlab less maintenance….puri dunya me electric cars introduce aur seccessful hori hay aur ap is idea ko baikar samaj rhay hayn apki soch kafi backward hay ya apko maloom hi nai. yaha ki govt asay hi isko approve ni kar rahi, fuel crisis barh rha hay aur electricity hi wahid solution hay in sab se nimatne ka. electricity k lye sirf water (damms) ki zarurt hay…solar powered vehicles bi hotay hay, electricity production k boht saray resources hay.
If all the comparisons are same, then what solution has been reached here? That, after every few hrs he needs to rush to charging zone. And stay put for 2 hrs Or that higher up the food chain people are conscious wise happy that we have curbed the noise and air pollution by yet again dumping it onto the poor guy. Because the rickshaw driver doesn’t care even right now about his carbon emissions and the footprint his trrrrr trrrrr creates.
it is the demise of our nation that we read 10%, understand 1% and reply back 2000% negative….dude i just mentioned it can run 150km in 1 charge thats more than the fuel powered rickshaw….its way more cheaper, 1 year of fuel in rickshaw charges you 160000/- whereas electric rickshaw costs 15-20k in one year for charging…get blown away dude!
about pollution it is also a serious issue that needs to be addressed as a whole…global warming and climate changes are going crazy so u need to do nothing coz the rickshaw driver dont care?? its the educated ppl’s responsibility otherwise go and dump ur knowledge and enjoy mainpuri with those guys.
Ok, no need to get your panties in a bunch ;)
I actually forgot to update my comment here. I have since been looking into the electrical vehicles. Being in the market to secure something for my self I had already started looking at this as a viable option for inner city.
Do you perhaps then know of a similar non-rickshaw option for home use?
As for climate change, well an “educated” understanding that the psychological mindset of massess is guided and molded by the herd leaders. Our leaders who govern the infrastructure of our country are the biggest culprit of inefficient mal-treating industry, so it is not a big surprise that the mentality trickles down to the masses as well.
Personally, I have always loved electrical conveyance option. primarily for impact on noise pollution, emissions, otherwise cleaner mechanism etc.
But in all honestly though, I do not see Pakistan being any big positive impact towards this innovation. Simply because we are averse to progress nation. We put few progressive products in the high society and then march a band about how innovative we have become! In reality, we do not even have clean livable roads, alleys etc. Let alone an efficient booming country.
Allahumusta’an.
I own an electric scooter. I’ve had it since 1 year but I seldom need it. It works great thou. No maintenance. Battery replacement cost is only 5000
The batteries are cheap. It will save money compared to petrol. I have an electric scooter. Battery change after one year is 5k, although I have not done it yet.
well if Zar motors try to use Hybrid of fuel and electric like toyota prius , that will sort out this problem. So, in hybrid cars it uses the battery to run upto certain speed limit but if you want to go fast the car switches from battery to fuel and if batteries have low charge then still it will use fuel to drive and recharge the car. if we introduce that concept in zar vehicles then that would be amazing :)
But electricity is mostly (minus the portion produced using hydro, wind and solar sources) produced using fossil fuels (thermal power stations), so these vehicles do have an impact on environment but now the blame is shifted to the electric power generators rather than the end user.
This does reduce the impact you are stating here as even without the rickshaws, the thermal plants will continue working and thus their pollution will only be enhanced by using fossil fuels in motor vehicles.
Thermal plants burn fossil fuels in proportion to load. For each kilowatt of electricity used for charging the batteries, equivalent amount of fuel has to burnt and converted into electricity (plus the electric energy lost while transmission). So it is wrong to claim that these electric powered rickshaws are green since they are not burning any fossil fuel directly.
Normally a rickshaw travels around 200KM a day with mileage of around 30km/litre. This gives us 6.67 litres/day or 200 litres/month or 2400 litres/year. Taking an average rate of petrol at Rs.75/litre, fuel cost per year will be Rs.180,000/-. Assuming rickshaw has 150 AH battery (max assumption) at 12 volt then 1 charge is 1800 watts or 1.8 units consumption per charge or assume 2 units taking into account some efficiency loss. Lower mileage per charge of 130km/charge, daily electricity consumption will be 3.07 units (2*200/130) or 92 units monthly or 1105 units yearly. Assuming Rs.15 gross rate of electricity unit, charging cost will be around Rs.16,575 per year. So, there is likely to be savings in fuel cost of Rs.163,425 per year (180,000-16,575) or in 3 years time it could be close to 5 lacs. Of course there will be other factors like maintenance, spare parts etc. But if this thing gets going well then initial investment of more Rs.100,000 will be justified. And best of all, if these moto bots finally replace with traditionally pollution pumping rickshaws then air in cities will be lot more cleaner too.
There is a catch. Rickshaws use gasoline fuel (CNG) instead of petrol to lower their costs.
Yeah, but CNG is no longer available 6-8 months in an year. Even if CNG were available full year even then electric option will be a little cheaper than that.
just to differ about the things what I know..
— milage is NOT 30km/litre, it is around 18~23 for many rickshaws.
— you don’t know about the battery power of the electric rickshaw.
— CNG is no more in use in many regions.
What I think: no one is going to buy this, because its does not seem practical:
— Rickshaw drivers put a lot of load on these vehicles. Suzuki engine and body can bear that but can these electric vehicles also? I think no.
— Maintenance cost. Suzuki chalti hai kyun ke uske part hr jga mil jaty han aur SASTY hain. They will have to setup their network before launch.
1-You are right that mileage on petrol is less. But I took the estimate of 30km/litre to cover LPG usage option also. If we take 18-23 then cost saving going to be a lot higher.
2- Agreed. I don’t know the battery power of rickshaw, but just an estimate that 150AH battery weight is around 30KG so it would sit well in a rickshaw of this size. Even if battery capacity is double then cost of charging will be double which would still give high cost saving compared to fossil fuels.
3- CNG shortage is a problem. This makes these electric rickshaws an even more attractive option.
4-Yes, for loader rickshaws that might not be a viable hybrid solution like traditional rickshaws. But anyway, if somebody is going to chose one way then he can chose either of two options above.
5- I don’t know about maintenance structure of the company but like everything new in a market, it takes time to get popular or develop some proper network. So lets see how it goes.
And also there is another big issue of power outage which would limit the option available for charging these rickshaws. Anybody making an investment on these need to see all these and see if it will be suitable enough.
1, 2, 3 okay!
4- Its not the case for loader rickshaws but for all. If you have seen how many people are put there in one rickshaw. upto 9 people including driver. But its not similar for the rickshaws running in posh areas of cities, I agree.
5- It is like this! If a driver does not get some spare part from his nearby workshop or not in his price range, then he will think what to do of his new vehicle? The company may have to start from one city, spread their network and spare parts everywhere, then they may get some sale..
I am not sure if these rickshaws can support high load consuming more battery or they won’t support high load at all. And for the support part, even if company has 5-10 service centers for these in each big city like Lahore, then I think it would be a good starting point to get things going. Now, it is upto this company to advertise this thing in a good way. If I were in there team, I would give out a few free rickshaws in a scheme to get things starting instead of advertising big on expensive TV ads or something. If product were really that good then it would build a good word of mouth for free marketing. Also planning for suitable array of service centers and having initial focus on big cities like Lahore, Karachi etc.
And if I were a rickshaw driver, knowing all I have known so far, I would be willing to take a risk and invest in this new thing.
150 AH ki battery iss riksha ko 10 min say ziada nhi chala sakay gi. 130 kms chalanay k liay 1000 AH ki battery ki zaroorat ho gi. aur jab is riksha ki zaroorat ho gi to iss ki charging khatam ho gi aur bijli ka intzar ho raha ho ga.
O bhai jaan 1000AH ki battery ka weight kam az kam bhi 200KG hoga. Itne weight ke saath rickshaw kaise chale ga. 150AH ka estimate bhi mein ne ziada lagaya hai. Toyota Prius has less power battery than that.
lithium batteries are light weight and give much more capacity than led acid batteries. No idiot would use ordinary led acid batteries in electric rickshaw or car to drive it. Even those hybrid cars have got lithium ion batteries to cut the wait and increase charge storage capacity.
Read carefully the article, it claims the batteries used are gel batteries and these gel batteries have led in them. Only they do not use acid and water to avoid maintenance. Yes, some expensive motors use lithium batteries with 3-4 times less weight but these are pretty damn expensive. So in order to make them more affordable for the target customers they have to use the other alternative which otherwise would have not made much of difference.
bhaijan isi waja se uski specs me 3 passenger mention h company ne sab kuch calculate/test kr k hi rickshaw present kia h ap itnai pareshan kiu ho? koi apko force ni kar rha k sab rickshaws ko replace krdo lakin hamary ha boht si sawari 1-2-3 hi hoti hai usme ye boht beneficial h. agar apko ye ricksha 300 k bajay 100 me manzil tak poncha dai to ap ki sab fikray khushi me tabdeel hojaygi pakistan me.
huhuhu. 150 AH to run rickshaw motor? Do you live in the world of fools? It’s not the motor of fan that would consume just 100 watts/hour.
Well then, prove me if any car or any vehicle has 3 to 4 times battery capacity at 12 volt. Even if engine of this rickshaw runs at 600 watts an hour this would still give 3 hours of travel time assuming 40-50 speed should give 120 to 150 km per charge. So numbers make sense. Prove me otherwise or stop commenting on things which you have no idea about.
600 watts? My water pump consumes more power than that while rickshaw motor has to produce enough torque for pick and drive fast enough.
Your water pump is a three phase synchronous AC motor. This Rickshaw has a brushless DC motor. And no, the water pump has to produce much more torque to suck approx 30 gallons of water every minute from underground, and then throw it up however many floors into the rooftop tank. This Rickshaw needs more rotational speed than torque.
Couldn’t have said it better.
My pump is two phase.
Brushless what? DC Brushless motor does not mean more power with little power consumption. If that was true then every motor would have rectifiers to convert ac to dc to save power. Take your non sense engineering somewhere else.
Wow, after reading you earlier comment I assumed you knew what you were taking about. Turns out you’re completely clueless about the workings of a motor. Go learn the basics and then we’ll talk.
Really? Why don’t you enlighten me with your motor manufacturing technology.
No brushes in bldc motors help reduce maintenance and reduce minor friction caused by brushes.
Toyota uses synchronous AC motor in hybrid cars whose speed can be controlled by variable frequency. AC motors produce more torque, power and speed than DC motors. I am sure this rickshaw also have got some kind of ac motor with inverter.
What a load of BS after BS. Toyota uses synchronous motor? Son, no car in the world uses a synchronous motor, except for Tesla and that too just because they’re named after the guy who invented AC, simply because the battery provides DC current, so using a DC motor is an obvious choice. In case of Tesla, they have to use this specially designed 3 dimensional power inverter contraption thingy, bigger than the engine itself (Google it) just to convert DC to 3 phase AC in real time and power the engine. Seriously, take my advice and don’t embarrass yourself anymore.
Dumb fu*ck read about toyota hybrid technology before p*ooping on board. Padney ko koi aur jagha dhoond.
Why is your needle stuck at 150 AH battery with 600 watts motor? Did you manufacture it? How could you assume it has 150 ah battery only.
Have you seen toyota hybrid car battery? It is huge (probably 4.5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide) This huge lithium ion battery can run this car for over 100 kms straight.
This rickshaw must have large gel battery(s) installed under rear or front seat. These are heavy, less efficient and would consume more power to get fully charged in short time.
Listen buddy, I am an accountant not an engineer. I think in numbers which make sense. I just took an assumption which seems logical. So if you disagree then tell me what you think will be watts capacity of battery in this rickshaw which should enable it to go 130 to 150 km in a single charge. Simple enough, no need to make things complex. Be an honest man, you don’t need to give an argument for argument’s sake.
Cost of battery replacement after 2-3 years …cannot seem to find it
Good transportation!
Looking for some personal transportation (sort of small electric car) in this price range….it will be even more good for salaried class.
You can import an electric scooter from Aliexpress. There super popular all over China.
You can import an electric scooter from Aliexpress. The super popular all over China.
There is a problem!
In addition to the positive plus negative points everyone is talking about (with positives almost outweighing the negatives) there is yet another negative point.
Electricity consumption.
As we know pakistan is facing a serious energy crisis and the shortfall is just shy of 3000-4000 MW.
If something like this goes mainstream, the electricity consumption of millions of people will suddenly be boosted to new heights! Take your average rickshaw driver, he may use a maximum of 100 units per month .
Now if we add say 90 more units to the bill (as the charger will take atleast 1500watts and it’ll take 2 hours to charge upto 80 percent so atleast 3 units per day consumed.)
He uses almost double the power he previously needed. Thus effectively increasing the electricity shortfall.
And if the current state of electric supply continues, that will be more than enough to unleash a new(and “improved”) loadshedding disaster for the whole country!
criticize, criticize , criticize is all you can gonna read in comments, no one admiring the effort or next step but all is criticize. sad we always forget the effort of others but point out the loose points, bhala shuru to kero loose points waqt kay saath khatum hon gay naa kay shuru hotay saath hi sub perfect ho bus in pakini brain professors kay liay jo yahan comment ker kay haan yaa naa mein faisla suna daita hain.
If it doesn’t even sound good on paper then how is it going to BE good when it’s actually implemented?
Being optimistic , hopefully Pakistan will be able to resolve the electricity shortfall issues in years to come. This company can have a First Movers Advantage…
i think consuming petrol is worse than consuming electricity overall in pakistan as it will save forex
I think that company should go for elctric plus solar charging optionfor alternative charging.its more economical in dry hot days.roof of rikshaw good for install solar panels
a next business opportunity here, why not someone build prepaid charging stations where the owner of the station has its own generation plant (preferably renewable energy). So, there is no burden on the grid.
Good idea like electricity from the solar panels etc. We should appreciate the good effort.
Super charging stations like Tesla has built for their cars all over America. Top up your battery in 20 minutes flat.
Also, How can you says its environment friendly ???? from where does it gets its electricity ? Now a days most of the electricity in Pakistan is Thermal which is obtained by burning the furnace oil or coal which contributes to global warming. Please be responsible before accepting a post on your website. Or at least read it before posting.
Hydal power is 31%, so at least we would have 31% lower effect on environment. Further, many plants are not in the vicinity of cities or domestic areas, so burning less of fossil fuels in these areas would have much bigger impact on living population.
Hi,
Brother you are right that about some portion is on Hydal power as well. But have you considered the device efficiency / energy losses while charging ? Also the discharging efficiency will also be taken into consideration. so All in all this 31% advantage will be reduce to 5% or even Nill. Has it been fitted with solar Panels to partially aid the battery charging then we could have said that its an Environment Friendly product.
Yes I have considered energy losses but these don’t make one bit of difference to the ratio. Think about it. If energy loss is 20% then this is same for all sources. For example, if rickshaw uses 1000 watts for charging and assuming 30% is hydal and 70% carbon fuels and energy loss is 20% then its means it consume 360 watts of hydal power and 840 watts of carbon fuels making it 1200 watts total consumption. Hydal ratio is still intact at 30% (360/1200).
Dosto agar ho sakay to comments likhnay k liay “Urdu” apni qaumi zaban istemal karain.
wtfcuk man!?
Why don’t u read zarb-e-momin, musawaat and urdu journals instead…
Ya woh deputy nazir ahmed ka novel taubat-un-nusooh ya Bahishti jannat parhain.. who brought you here?
Tum jaisay “Ghaddar” jis mulk mei hoon un ka aisa hi haal hota hay.
Ahmad khaan maraasi sb, muun tuadda Raheel shareef kanjar warga.. te gallan tussi haraami patriot wargi kerde paey oo.. !!
wow they are very expenise . Maybe 1.5 lakh would v been ok
Time to invest in a charging bay at petrol stations too I presume.. bye bye CNG & those long awful queues…… :P
i second your opinion !
I dont think its gonna work, first and foremost question is Where is the poor community gonna get 250000 Rupees? then comes the part of the load shedding and what not
they should start with Karachi , loadshedding times are MUCH better here now …
how about Electric minicars and bikes ?
P.S : yes , i know about the Ebike pakistan , BUT they need to serve ebikes on their much more public friendly platform … and offer MUCH CHEAPER options , esp for students ! something for the middle class would be nice , which cant afford the horribly priced mehran anymore !
Let ZAR Motor come into market……….wait.
Anyhow, discussion with logic, appreciated. carry on
hmm .. since you were the only one to reply… let me ask if u know …
when exactly are the planning to make their ‘Grand’ entry in the market ?
Yeah, now Electric Rickshaw are available in Pakistan, why not try, instead of worrying this million of things. You will never know how it is unless you do it really. Even through maybe it’s new to Pakistan, it has been proved E-rickshaw works well in other areas and countries. So less worrying, you will never be the first one to try new things!!!
Solution to poverty and chaos and corruption is JUSTICE, not organizations not NGO’s not policies, NO JUSTICE NO PROSPERITY
Don’t focus on issues. When it starts people will come with solutions. Maybe there will be battery stations around the city. Just drive in with a drained battery and get a charged battery. Pay a amount for the already charged and off you go. The negative attitude of idiots in pakistan have found social media to dump their rotten views. Better spend time on giving ideas.
Good people only highlight issues when they have few good solutions to recommend. Otherwise better to keep quiet and let others do the good work they plan.
Chepeast source for energy is nuclear. Hopefully our scientists will come up with a small uranium capsule to power the car for 5 years or more.
Start encouraging our new generation to take up such challenges. While the current generation decides which Criminals to vote for ppp pmln mqm etc.
Long live Pakistan.