Starter Kit. Idea 163 of 500. Cluster 7
Electric tuk-tuk conversion and rental fleets
The mechanism, from the book
The tiny business pathway. A rural woman with an exceptional product should not need photography, English copy, packaging design and a distributor before the world can find her.
The first step
Sit with three tuk-tuk drivers and write down what they spend on fuel and repairs each week. Get a written quote from a mechanic who can convert one vehicle to electric, including batteries and charging. Put both numbers side by side and ask the drivers whether they would rent a converted tuk-tuk for a weekly fee that leaves them better off. Their yes is the case.
- Who pays first
- A tuk-tuk driver who spends heavily on fuel each week and would rent an electric vehicle if the weekly cost were lower.
- What leaves today
- Money for imported fuel leaves the island every day; converted vehicles charged on local power keep more of it at home.
Ask first
- Department of Motor Traffic. Ask how a converted tuk-tuk is inspected and registered again.
- Sustainable Energy Authority. Ask what support exists for electric vehicles and charging.
Check before you spend
That a converted vehicle can be legally registered and insured, that the battery work is done safely, and where vehicles can charge.
Find out these three numbers
- What does converting one tuk-tuk cost?
- What will drivers or tourists pay to rent one?
- How far does a converted tuk-tuk run on one charge?
A comparison from the book
Zermatt. Chapter Five
"the family had founded a company to design and build the taxis themselves"
A local family built Zermatt's electric taxis; a workshop here could do the same.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.