We have always wanted to look at three wheelers at Pluginindia, but have never gotten around to it. So when the Piaggio folks invited us to cover a new showroom inauguration in Pune, we said, what the heck, let’s go. The company has off late started opening up company owned showrooms - and we were at Wagholi checking out the latest company owned Ape showroom. Piaggio has a total of 5 showrooms in Pune - 3 are owned by the Khinvsara family - and two are company owned. (Thankfully, the commercial and personal vehicles have separate teams. And Piaggio is more known for the 3 rather than the 2 wheelers.)
The big gorilla in the 3 wheeler business is Bajaj, which in 2023 sold one out of every 3 rickshaws in the country. India also exports rickshaws to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Latin America. The total three wheeler market in FY 23 was about 7.5 lakh, with half of it being EVs. Bajaj sold 2.5 lakh and Piaggio sold about 65 K. (TVS for the record sold 14 K) About 25% of Piaggio’s three wheeler sales are EVs. So my guess is that around 1500 to 2000 Ape Rickshaws and Cargo 3 wheelers are being made every month at the Baramati factory.
Ape’s suspension is better tuned for cargo vehicles. The front suspension is not a simple fork - it has a small swing arm, which ensures that the front does not dip down too much during hard braking of the loaded vehicle. Photo below:
The rear suspension also has a camber which reduces tyre wear. What I found interesting was the absence of a coil spring in the rear - it is replaced by a rubber buffer. Wonder if it is a cost saving measure because I have never seen this design in cars. Photo below:
The big gorilla in the 3 wheeler business is Bajaj, which in 2023 sold one out of every 3 rickshaws in the country. India also exports rickshaws to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Latin America. The total three wheeler market in FY 23 was about 7.5 lakh, with half of it being EVs. Bajaj sold 2.5 lakh and Piaggio sold about 65 K. (TVS for the record sold 14 K) About 25% of Piaggio’s three wheeler sales are EVs. So my guess is that around 1500 to 2000 Ape Rickshaws and Cargo 3 wheelers are being made every month at the Baramati factory.
Ape’s suspension is better tuned for cargo vehicles. The front suspension is not a simple fork - it has a small swing arm, which ensures that the front does not dip down too much during hard braking of the loaded vehicle. Photo below:
The rear suspension also has a camber which reduces tyre wear. What I found interesting was the absence of a coil spring in the rear - it is replaced by a rubber buffer. Wonder if it is a cost saving measure because I have never seen this design in cars. Photo below:
Present at the launch event was the entire top management of Piaggio. We also had Ajit Pawar, the Dy CM of Maharashtra, who dropped in. With a factory that falls in his constituency Baramati, he had to keep the company in good humour (also the vice-versa). Was happy to note that Ajit spent most of his talktime away from CNG and Diesel, preferring to speak more about EVs. He had done his HW. He wondered why after a great run till Mar 24 why EV sales had dipped off the charts in Apr 24? Sherlock Holmes should have whispered in Dada’s ears about how stopping FAME subsidy jacked up prices and so we saw the dip in sales. But things are bouncing back in May. We don’t need subsidies when cost economics are favouring EVs so much. And yes, PLI is happening!
Ajit was accompanied by the President of the NCP Rickshaw Panchayat. Ajit asked the Rickhawman to express his ask to the company team. Our wise friend had two simple ones - a range of 200 km - and the availability of charging at rickshaw stands. We chatted up with Gogi Kapoor, the marketing head for Piaggio Commercial vehicles. Gogi had argued that the average daily run is 140 km for a rickshaw. Only the adventurous EV user would look at taking the EV to below 10% SoC. if I have a usage of x km per day, I will need to have a range of 1.5x km to be in a comfort zone. So 200 km makes sense!
Ajit was accompanied by the President of the NCP Rickshaw Panchayat. Ajit asked the Rickhawman to express his ask to the company team. Our wise friend had two simple ones - a range of 200 km - and the availability of charging at rickshaw stands. We chatted up with Gogi Kapoor, the marketing head for Piaggio Commercial vehicles. Gogi had argued that the average daily run is 140 km for a rickshaw. Only the adventurous EV user would look at taking the EV to below 10% SoC. if I have a usage of x km per day, I will need to have a range of 1.5x km to be in a comfort zone. So 200 km makes sense!
Ajit Pawar, on his right is the rickshaw panchayat chief. To his left is Diego Graffi, CMD of Piaggio India
Fast charging is also something that can help. Usually you need to have battery voltages of 300 V+ for using the already available network of CCS2 DC fast chargers. But rickshaw design is primarily governed by the lower prices it offers vis a vis 4 wheelers. So higher battery sizes and complex charging systems are a challenge. My suggestion would be to fit a 7 kW charger. This will be possible using three phase AC input and will not require any major changes in the current battery packs. With a 8 kWh pack, you can still charge a vehicle to 80% in under an hour - all izz well!
What the Piaggio team has done well is the limp mode. When SoC goes sub 10%, the vehicle shuts down and has to be restarted and made to function in Limp mode. This keeps speeds below 20 km - and the vehicle can do another 5 km at this speed before it runs out of juice. Incidentally, Interestingly, most of the vehicles are fitted with GPS systems. I discussed the early days E2O practice of calling up a call center to get the emergency battery reserve activated. With many thousands of vehicles on the road and patchy connectivity, Gogi felt that it is impractical for the likes of Piaggio to consider it.
What the Piaggio team has done well is the limp mode. When SoC goes sub 10%, the vehicle shuts down and has to be restarted and made to function in Limp mode. This keeps speeds below 20 km - and the vehicle can do another 5 km at this speed before it runs out of juice. Incidentally, Interestingly, most of the vehicles are fitted with GPS systems. I discussed the early days E2O practice of calling up a call center to get the emergency battery reserve activated. With many thousands of vehicles on the road and patchy connectivity, Gogi felt that it is impractical for the likes of Piaggio to consider it.
Love the simple rotary switch - wish we had it in today’s cars. Btw, the original Reva had this design
I also pitched the idea of having a roadside assistance service where a 48 V 1 kWh battery pack is delivered to the stranded 3 wheeler to be able to get back home. These packs can be easily carried on a two wheeler - and can create entrepreneurial opportunities for hundreds of unemployed youths. Gogi is open to the idea - and am letting this startup bait float around and hope that some reader will get hooked onto this bait.
The Wagholi workshop has a 1500 sq ft repair workshop. The new age vehicles tend to make dealers happy as they require special tools and diagnostics to service. But when you look at the larger picture, that may not be a good idea. One of the hurdles to EV adoption is resistance from the unorganised spares retailers and mechanics. They feel that they will end up being the losers as vehicles become more electronics and software driven. They have already seen this happen with BS6 engines. Upskilling is the need of the hour for the mechanic trade. We have enough unemployed diploma and degree holders who can now enter the EV service space. What the likes of Piaggio and Bajaj have to do is to have structured training and support programs for these entrepreneurs. The network effect is very important in any technology adoption. And the availability of a large number of trained mechanics will definitely help a faster adoption of EVs.
The Electrik FX Max comes fitted with a 8 kWh NMC battery pack, which is warrantied for 5 years. (Was unhappy with the Andersen connectors that are used with the pack.) The motor can deliver a peak power of 9.5 kW. The range is about 115 km. The same motor-battery combo on the E City rickshaw can deliver a range of 145 km. (The company tweaked around the Veerya Motor to reduce wh per km and got the range upped from 115 to 145 km.) Bajaj rickshaws have an ARAi certified range of 178 km! This could be in part due to an automatic 2 speed transmission in the Bajaj gaddis. Apart from range, the gearbox helps with gradability. Another plus point for Bajaj is battery chemistry - LFP. As of 2024, Ape is limited to NMC and does not come with LFP variants. A Big minus according to me. NMC has its advantage in swappable batteries because of lower weight. But from a safety and battery life perspective, LFP is the way ahead.
Today, Ape has a tie up with Sun Mobility and has its swappable battery rickshaws running in Bangalore and Chennai. The experiment has had its challenges because of grey areas about asset ownership and maintenance. Standardisation of battery packs or even connectors is still a pipe dream at this time. As I finish this article, the Piaggio press note tells me of an interesting experiment: Piaggio recently announced a new battery subscription model for its Apé Elektrik 3Ws, which is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at making electric vehicle ownership more affordable and hassle-free. Now this is going to be an interesting space to watch!
I also pitched the idea of having a roadside assistance service where a 48 V 1 kWh battery pack is delivered to the stranded 3 wheeler to be able to get back home. These packs can be easily carried on a two wheeler - and can create entrepreneurial opportunities for hundreds of unemployed youths. Gogi is open to the idea - and am letting this startup bait float around and hope that some reader will get hooked onto this bait.
The Wagholi workshop has a 1500 sq ft repair workshop. The new age vehicles tend to make dealers happy as they require special tools and diagnostics to service. But when you look at the larger picture, that may not be a good idea. One of the hurdles to EV adoption is resistance from the unorganised spares retailers and mechanics. They feel that they will end up being the losers as vehicles become more electronics and software driven. They have already seen this happen with BS6 engines. Upskilling is the need of the hour for the mechanic trade. We have enough unemployed diploma and degree holders who can now enter the EV service space. What the likes of Piaggio and Bajaj have to do is to have structured training and support programs for these entrepreneurs. The network effect is very important in any technology adoption. And the availability of a large number of trained mechanics will definitely help a faster adoption of EVs.
The Electrik FX Max comes fitted with a 8 kWh NMC battery pack, which is warrantied for 5 years. (Was unhappy with the Andersen connectors that are used with the pack.) The motor can deliver a peak power of 9.5 kW. The range is about 115 km. The same motor-battery combo on the E City rickshaw can deliver a range of 145 km. (The company tweaked around the Veerya Motor to reduce wh per km and got the range upped from 115 to 145 km.) Bajaj rickshaws have an ARAi certified range of 178 km! This could be in part due to an automatic 2 speed transmission in the Bajaj gaddis. Apart from range, the gearbox helps with gradability. Another plus point for Bajaj is battery chemistry - LFP. As of 2024, Ape is limited to NMC and does not come with LFP variants. A Big minus according to me. NMC has its advantage in swappable batteries because of lower weight. But from a safety and battery life perspective, LFP is the way ahead.
Today, Ape has a tie up with Sun Mobility and has its swappable battery rickshaws running in Bangalore and Chennai. The experiment has had its challenges because of grey areas about asset ownership and maintenance. Standardisation of battery packs or even connectors is still a pipe dream at this time. As I finish this article, the Piaggio press note tells me of an interesting experiment: Piaggio recently announced a new battery subscription model for its Apé Elektrik 3Ws, which is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at making electric vehicle ownership more affordable and hassle-free. Now this is going to be an interesting space to watch!
