# Conversion Tuk Tuk to EV?



## laser54 (Dec 2, 2011)

Hi guys , and thanks for this wonderful forum​ ​ In Africa we have thousand of 3 wheels motorcycle ( called Rickshaw and Tuk Tuk in Asia) used for transportation , I have 10 myself and they costing me about 60$ per day for fuel in total while the total earnings for the whole 10 vehicles is about 150$ per day , they work by 2 stroke gasoline motor , So im thinking of conversion to Electric with range up to 120 Km and speed up to 60 KPH …​ Could you please tell me about steps an the amount of money needed for this investment .. my budget is about 2000$ for Vehicle …​ ​ Thanx in advance







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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

60kph (~40mph) is no problem for electric, even a "low budget" 72V system. However 120km range (80 miles or so) is pushing it. 

Small lead acid cars (like the zap, somewhat (in)famous among the US EV crowd) are probably comparable in weight and performance to what you are thinking about. They had 72V, 100ah lead acid batteries and a 72V DC drive system that gave them a top speed of about 60km/h and a range of about 40km.

If you have access to any old electric golf cart parts, you could probably scrape together the mechanical parts of the conversion (a golf cart rear axle and motor, contactors, charger and stuff, and 72V controllers are available from ebay and probably many other sources) for well within your budget.

However batteries are going to the the problem. No idea what lead acid golf cart batteries go for price wise in Africa but in the US the best ones for the job would probably run about $1200 US. (six, good quality 12v 150ah flooded golf cart batteries). But, you are still looking at around 40km range (about 25 miles) about a third of what you are hoping for. Note that ordinary car cranking batteries are NOT up to the task. They will not survive many charge/discharge cycles.

If you went to a lithium 200AH 72v battery, your range would be within the 120km ballpark you are looking for but the batteries are going to cost several times as much, again thinking US prices here, and you will need some kind of BMS (battery management system) and that golf cart charger won't be appropriate anymore. The good news is that while lithium is much more expensive up front, it has much longer lifespan to spread the cost over, and it weighs much less, improving range and performance and hauling capability.

In short, 

With US retail prices for lithium batteries and related components and a golf cart drivetrain with a couple upgrades, US retail price range for such a conversion would be around $10,000 US most of that being the lithium. Substitute lead acid batteries and the reduced range and cycle life, and it might be $3000 to $3500 US. 

I am making a lot of assumptions here. I presume you are using these vehicles for taxi/delivery purposes which is a lot different the the normal driving cycle of a US owner's converted geo metro and such vehicles. Your best bet is probably to build a lead acid conversion first, and see how it performs prior to deciding how well it fits into your fleet. Perhaps if you can identify a commonly traveled, short route some of your rickshaws take, you can dedicate it to that route. Another thought is if the cars sit idle at common pick-up locations (markets, terminals, etc) you can think about installing charging stations at those locations so you do not need to do all your charging overnight.

Good luck.


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## ElectriCar (Jun 15, 2008)

Well part of decision should be "how much is the conversion going to save you versus how much will it cost you to continue to use petrol"? 

Also have to figure that fuel prices will continue to climb as the world economy picks up and I saw very promising news in the US on the news this week and I'm seeing it in my construction business.

Having said that, look at Sinopoly batteries. There's a guy on here in the classifieds, Mike who is the only guy I know selling them right now. They are smaller than any other prismatic I believe and are running around $1.10/Ah with Mike but you may look and find them for closer to $1.00 very soon.

The way you're using those carts I don't' think I'd invest in Lead batteries. I think they would go bad too soon because of your range needs due to the likelihood of over discharging them.

Best of luck! Oh BTW being you're I think doing a lot of stop and go driving, an AC system if you can find one with a lower voltage would do you good due to regen abilities. I realize that drive and lithium batteries will blow your budget but to do it and it be worth while I think you need to at the least go with lithium.


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## crap (Dec 5, 2009)

I'm assuming it is used as a taxi? If so, could it be charged while waiting for customers, and how much power is available? (what is the mains voltage and how many amps are the common fuses?)

Any way, 120km in a single charge will require an expensive battery pack. while it is light it has horrible aerodynamics and probably rolling resistance as well...


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