Audi Electric Rickshaws Recycle Old Batteries with Nunam Project
Audi Electric Rickshaws Recycle Old Batteries with Nunam Project
Electric rickshaws powered by used electric batteries are coming to India for a wholesome project by Audi and Nunam. The Audi Environmental Foundation and Nunam, a nonprofit German–Indian start-up, is collaborating on a project to bring in electric rickshaws to Indian roads pushing a ground-breaking initiative as this project incorporates the megatrends of sustainability, electro-mobility, globalization, and social responsibility.
Reusing old batteries
Nunam is utilising ‘used’ electric car batteries by bringing three electric rickshaws to India, which are powered by the batteries previously used in the Audi’s e-tron test vehicles. The project's goal is to observe if the high-voltage battery modules can be utilized even after the vehicle's life cycle and become a viable second-life use case. Despite being used, the old are still incredibly powerful, which can be used as second-life batteries in other properties, just like the electric rickshaws. By partnering with the Audi Neckarsulm training team, Nunam has developed the upcoming rickshaw prototypes with the objective to find ways to use the old batteries into power storage devices, prolonging their lifespan and maximizing resource efficiency.
Empowering working individuals
These all-electric rickshaws will be provided to working women in India, with one of the project’s aim being creating job opportunities for Indian women enabling economic participation as a driver, a safe means of transportation, and leverage the vehicle to move their goods to markets, eliminating the need and expenses of middlemen. Nunam cofounder Prodip Chatterjee states when these e-rickshaws are utilized properly in their second-life use, it can have a big impact, assisting individuals in difficult life situations in earning an income and gaining economic independence – all while being environmentally friendly.
Reducing e-waste
The e-rickshaws have an ideal eco-efficiency as the electric motor does not require high power compared to the vehicle’s low weight and will sustain in the long run due to the high-energy-density-battery. Rickshaws are easy mode of transportation that is driven to travel fairly short distance, which is why, the current rickshaws frequently use lead-acid batteries, that have short service life. This type of battery is also quite difficult to dispose of, which is why, the use of e-rickshaws can drastically change the public transportation scenario.
Charging
These e-rickshaws recharge through a solar charging station where solar panels are installed on the local partner’s properties. The e-tron battery serves as a buffer storage unit, which will be charge electricity through sunlight during the day, and then, transferred on to the rickshaws in the evening. Local driving becomes essentially carbon-free as a result of this strategy. As a result, electric rickshaws may be operated all day and still be charged with green energy in the evening and at night.
Sustainable life
Even after spending its first life in an Audi e-tron and its second in an e-rickshaw, the battery still has some juice left in its life cycle. In a third stage, the residual power from the batteries may even be utilised for fixed applications like LED lights. Nunam aims to extract the most out of each battery before ultimately recycling it, says Chatterjee, a cofounder.
This project will be working on the pilot phase in early 2023, where these rickshaws will run on the Indian roads for a greater cause. Hopefully, this will be widely successfully and implemented all over the country, and then globally in the long run.
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