This was posted last year on the news site Thailand Times in June.
The world's first solar-powered Tuk-Tuk
Thailand has been successful creating the first auto rickshaw (‘Tuk Tuk’) powered entirely by solar energy – an effort to help preserve the environment and combat the ongoing global warming crisis.
Clean Fuel Energy Enterprise Co Ltd President, Air Marshal Morakod Chansumruard, introduced the solar three-wheeler, named “Arun Sawasdi Tuk Tuk” to the world today. His auto rickshaw is designed to use clean solar power for transportation without emitting toxic fumes into the atmosphere.
The solar Tuk Tuk will be displayed at the Manufacturing Expo 2010 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC) from 24 to 27 June 2010.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Information Communication Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh on Tuesday tested the unique ‘environmental friendly Tuk Tuk’ at Government House in Bangkok, prior to participating in a cabinet meeting.
Comment- Has anyone seen one? What happened to it all I wonder? Great idea and definitely needed as there are so many on the roads and I can't believe they are environmentally too friendly.
No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on.
No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on.
Resolve dissolves in alcohol
Re: No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on
The last I heard was Elvis and Bin Laden were driving it to Mr Ps house with a family promotion from McDonalds.
Re: No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on
I don't think the likes of PTT would allow it. Also, they would more than likely cost ten times as much as the regular ones do. That's the problem with all these bright ideas - they're beyond the average person's reach. And, if the truth be known, the tuk-tuk probably has a top speed of about 30mph. It's all fair and well saying people should buy electric cars, but until they cost the same, or less than standard cars, it's not going to happen.
Don't try to impress me with your manner of dress cos a monkey himself is a monkey no less - cold fact
Re: No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on
I believe Barry has one, he has a solar powered long tail boat, motorcycle, and party boat and I'm almost sure I saw a solar powered tuk tuk in his garage (maybe it was a golf cart though).
It may be a one off though as Barry designs and builds these things himself.
Barry?
It may be a one off though as Barry designs and builds these things himself.
Barry?
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
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barrys
- Legend
- Posts: 2296
- Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:52 pm
- Location: Enjoying the sea air on a boat around Pak Nam Pran
Re: No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on
ok, here goes!
The situation with the tuk-tuk mentioned above is as follows:
Firstly it isn't really a solar-powered tuk-tuk.
It wouldn't be possible to drive the motor direct with solar power from such a small area of solar cells (e.g. less then 2 sq.m.)
It's an electrically powered solar-assisted tuk-tuk, meaning when it's parked the solar energy generated is fed into the batteries.
In terms of technology, this tuk-tuk is pretty low-spec:
it uses 48 v of deep-cycle lead-acid batteries with 165 amp hours, powering a series-wound DC motor.
This is basically golf-cart technology with a slightly bigger motor.
It has a top speed of almost 40 km/h and a range of around 70 km between charges.
This means you can drive a max of 35 km, so that you can then return to your charging station.
The solar panel is an optional add-on and, as already said, will help to trickle-charge the batteries then the vehicle is stationary.
A standard petrol/gas tuk-tuk costs about 200k baht
The electric tuk-tuk costs about 280k + 50k for the solar panels
We have developed a higher performance e-tuk-tuk here in Paknampran with the following specs:
We use a permanent magnet motor instead of a series-wound DC motor.
Benefits: it is lighter and also regenerative, i.e. when braking or decelerating, the energy generated is fed back into the batteries rather than simply dissipating.
It also has a 93% efficiency rating compared with a max. of around 80% for the series-wound version.
This means it draws less from the battery bank.
Battery bank: we use 16 x 3.2 v lithium-ion cells 200 amp hours, maintenance free.
They are 3 times the cost of deep-cycle lead acid but have 4 times the life according to the manufacturer.
Crucially, they are also less than 1/2 the weight.
The performance we get from this vehicle is:
max. speed 60 km/h
range between charges approx. 130 km
As we have fitted a lightweight electronic charger, you can stop and charge from any 240 v outlet.
A dump charge of 45 mins will recharge to around 95% battery capacity.
We are now also fitting lightweight solar cells to increase range further, as these will also generate power into the batteries while the vehicle is travelling - unlike the lower-spec model above.
The cost of this vehicle is just over 400k - albeit as a prototype.
Economies of scale would bring down the price, of course.
In terms of commercial viability, baabaa's comments pretty much hit the mark, but do bypass a few important points.
Firstly, if the political will was there, the government could step in and assist on account of the amount of money that would be saved through the lack of environmental pollution and not having to treat so many respiratory diseases in bkk, for example.
The best way of introducing this would be to employ the technology for tuk-tuk taxis in bkk.
They spend half their time waiting at their designated "ranks" for passengers anyway, which means they could make optimum use of the solar-assisted option.
Tuk-tuk taxi owners have to pay an annual fee to bkk corporation.
Where they wait, there are always overhead power lines.
So drop a specially designed plug down at these points and let them charge "free".
Then up the price of the licence fee slightly.
No extra staff and no extra collection charges and a much cleaner environment.
The situation with the tuk-tuk mentioned above is as follows:
Firstly it isn't really a solar-powered tuk-tuk.
It wouldn't be possible to drive the motor direct with solar power from such a small area of solar cells (e.g. less then 2 sq.m.)
It's an electrically powered solar-assisted tuk-tuk, meaning when it's parked the solar energy generated is fed into the batteries.
In terms of technology, this tuk-tuk is pretty low-spec:
it uses 48 v of deep-cycle lead-acid batteries with 165 amp hours, powering a series-wound DC motor.
This is basically golf-cart technology with a slightly bigger motor.
It has a top speed of almost 40 km/h and a range of around 70 km between charges.
This means you can drive a max of 35 km, so that you can then return to your charging station.
The solar panel is an optional add-on and, as already said, will help to trickle-charge the batteries then the vehicle is stationary.
A standard petrol/gas tuk-tuk costs about 200k baht
The electric tuk-tuk costs about 280k + 50k for the solar panels
We have developed a higher performance e-tuk-tuk here in Paknampran with the following specs:
We use a permanent magnet motor instead of a series-wound DC motor.
Benefits: it is lighter and also regenerative, i.e. when braking or decelerating, the energy generated is fed back into the batteries rather than simply dissipating.
It also has a 93% efficiency rating compared with a max. of around 80% for the series-wound version.
This means it draws less from the battery bank.
Battery bank: we use 16 x 3.2 v lithium-ion cells 200 amp hours, maintenance free.
They are 3 times the cost of deep-cycle lead acid but have 4 times the life according to the manufacturer.
Crucially, they are also less than 1/2 the weight.
The performance we get from this vehicle is:
max. speed 60 km/h
range between charges approx. 130 km
As we have fitted a lightweight electronic charger, you can stop and charge from any 240 v outlet.
A dump charge of 45 mins will recharge to around 95% battery capacity.
We are now also fitting lightweight solar cells to increase range further, as these will also generate power into the batteries while the vehicle is travelling - unlike the lower-spec model above.
The cost of this vehicle is just over 400k - albeit as a prototype.
Economies of scale would bring down the price, of course.
In terms of commercial viability, baabaa's comments pretty much hit the mark, but do bypass a few important points.
Firstly, if the political will was there, the government could step in and assist on account of the amount of money that would be saved through the lack of environmental pollution and not having to treat so many respiratory diseases in bkk, for example.
The best way of introducing this would be to employ the technology for tuk-tuk taxis in bkk.
They spend half their time waiting at their designated "ranks" for passengers anyway, which means they could make optimum use of the solar-assisted option.
Tuk-tuk taxi owners have to pay an annual fee to bkk corporation.
Where they wait, there are always overhead power lines.
So drop a specially designed plug down at these points and let them charge "free".
Then up the price of the licence fee slightly.
No extra staff and no extra collection charges and a much cleaner environment.
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tuktukmike
- Guru
- Posts: 728
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 1:02 am
Re: No sign of the solar powered Tuk-Tuk yet.....one year on
I also heard of this solar powered tuk tuk and thought at the time it was a non starter, Honda and GM have made solar vehicles but not intended for the masses.
There are already companies making and supplying electric tuk tuks to the Netherlands but I would not say they are a resounding success at present.
Also many Chinese companies are offering a huge amount of electric vehicles including 3 wheeled tuk tuk variants.
We have to take into account that the people who buy one will usually use them as taxi's and require them to run from say 10am until 10pm or later, This is where an electric tuk tuk at present falls down.
We also have a lot of interest in tuk tuk delivery vans for city use but again with differing weights carried we have the same problem, also you have to take into account the terrain.
Most if not all the people we deal with want a vehicle to run all day without needing to stop and recharge, also remember the range of any electric tuk tuk varies on the weight carried. In the UK when testing Vosa work on 70kgs per passenger and driver, with say a 5 or 6 seater this can be upwards of 350kgs.
We are still working on a hybrid tuk tuk that supplys power from the engine direct to the batteries allowing the operator to switch from petrol/lpg to electric, but we still have to overcome the vehicle overall weight.
In time I would imagine all these problems will be ironed out, but not yet.
TTM
There are already companies making and supplying electric tuk tuks to the Netherlands but I would not say they are a resounding success at present.
Also many Chinese companies are offering a huge amount of electric vehicles including 3 wheeled tuk tuk variants.
We have to take into account that the people who buy one will usually use them as taxi's and require them to run from say 10am until 10pm or later, This is where an electric tuk tuk at present falls down.
We also have a lot of interest in tuk tuk delivery vans for city use but again with differing weights carried we have the same problem, also you have to take into account the terrain.
Most if not all the people we deal with want a vehicle to run all day without needing to stop and recharge, also remember the range of any electric tuk tuk varies on the weight carried. In the UK when testing Vosa work on 70kgs per passenger and driver, with say a 5 or 6 seater this can be upwards of 350kgs.
We are still working on a hybrid tuk tuk that supplys power from the engine direct to the batteries allowing the operator to switch from petrol/lpg to electric, but we still have to overcome the vehicle overall weight.
In time I would imagine all these problems will be ironed out, but not yet.
TTM