10 ms·

India’s Messy Electric Vehicle Revolution

128 points by tchalla 7y ago

9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
One thing not mentioned in the article is that virtually all of Delhi's autorickshaws are powered by CNG, not gas/petrol. On the other hand, most of India's electricity comes from coal, and dirty coal at that. So is switching to e-rickshaws really a net benefit?
- harryVic 7y ago
  Coal power plants are more efficient than internal combustion engines. So yes, e-rickshaws are cleaner.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    Are cleaner than CNG rickshaws?
    - yoyogesh01 7y ago
      Some changes are neccesary for reform
    - knowThySelfx 7y ago
      https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/CNG-run-vehicles-emit-dangerous-nanocarbon-CSIR-study-finds/articleshow/48377499.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/polluti... "The compressed natural gas run buses are harmful for humans as they emit "nanocarbon" particles which can cause cancer, according to a study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Though the study was conducted on a very limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR took the findings seriously owing to the health hazard it poses to humans and alerted the central government for further follow up, CSIR's director general Dr MO Garg said on Thursday." Could it breach Blood Brain Barrier? https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19339.php https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19339.php "Another route by which nanoparticles can enter the brain is via the olfactory nerve, circumventing the blood-brain barrier. The olfactory nerve (nervus olfactorius) has a direct connection to the brain by way of its long processes (axons). It is therefore conceivable that inhaled nanoparticles enter the olfactory nerve and are transported to the brain along the axons" It says nanoparticles. Not sure nano carbon is included in it.
- ggm 7y ago
  Even dirty coal is possibly better than dirty diesel and petrol. Yes, its dirty: what kind of remediation can be done in a centralized generator, compared to distributed catalytic converters in exhaust (which fail in service, or are not fitted) and a huge burden in NO and related problems. Coal is bad, polluting, creates health hazards and we need to get rid of it. Petrol and Diesel are not "better" and there are reasons central generation may overall be net beneficial especially given the efficiency of generation, transmission losses and in-engine effects comparing ICE to EV
  - Mikeb85 7y ago
    Dirty coal and the inefficiencies associated with generating electricity, then storing it in lead-acid batteries and then turning an e-rickshaw is definitely less efficient and far more polluting than autorickshaws running on CNG.
    - ggm 7y ago
      OK, I'll bite. Cite please. Include full lifecycle costs on CNG, including fracking and shipping.
      - Mikeb85 7y ago
        Here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-10-31/you-ll-need-286-pounds-of-coal-to-fuel-that-electric-road-trip https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/arti...
        ggm 7y ago
        Even with all those losses, the electric vehicle road trip is still better for the climate than driving a gasoline-powered car. Burning that much coal would release about 310 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, compared with 350 kilograms by the 40 gallons of gasoline. Even though coal tends to emit more pollutants than oil for the amount of energy it generates, the efficiency of the electric vehicle, which recharges its battery with every brake, more than makes up the difference. But.. the article doesn't say "CNG is better" It just says the worst-case costs in the US, for coal sourced power to charge the batteries.
- melling 7y ago
  Sure. It’s easier to switch a few coal plants to gas, solar, etc than try and convince millions of people to switch to EV’s. The hard part is done. The article says the electricity is often stolen. We’ll call that market forces.
- jbarham 7y ago
  Reading between the lines, it seems that a major advantage of e-rickshaws is that it's easier to steal electricity to recharge them vs gas/petrol.
nautical 7y ago
I have been living in Delhi city since a LONG time and I have seen these cropping up mainly on metro routes. There is a major shift towards using public transport in general. Many people having cars have started to prefer e-rickshaw and metro combination for daily travel. It is very cheap ( about 1 dollar e-rickshaw and metro combined - both ways - basically about 30 dollar your monthly travel is sorted ). It is cleaner ( Being public mode, there are benefits ) It has become one of the fastest way to travel.
- shard972 7y ago
  As long as your not a young pretty woman.
- bobsil1 7y ago
  Delhi metro is fantastic — new, modern, floor-through, nicer than NYC’s/London’s.
mastazi 7y ago
> It’s messy, improvised and driven by the people. The government and vehicle makers are now trying to gain some control over it. This is a good introduction but the rest of the article seems to side heavily with the latter (vehicle makers and startups like SmartE) while criticising the "homebrew" market for being "disorganised". I'm going to disagree for two reasons: 1. From a workers rights point of view, I'm not sure that drivers renting their vehicle from a startup is better than drivers owning their own ride. 2. On a technological level a varied market with many alternatives can sometimes better facilitate innovation as opposed to an oligopoly limited to 2-3 larger actors. Disclaimer: I know nothing about India in general, so my opinion is that of an uninformed external observer.
- pramit 7y ago
  I agree.
- abhiminator 7y ago
  >1. From a workers rights point of view, I'm not sure that drivers renting their vehicle from a startup is better than drivers owning their own ride. I agree with the gist of your comment, however, given that the majority of drivers in India are illiterate and not economically well off (especially considering the maintenance costs as a % of the vehicle's initial MSP), I think it makes sense for them to rent the e-rickshaws out from a centralized provider/operator -- initially, at least -- until the drivers reach a certain level of economic prosperity and familiarity with the technology. Another option could be the mass training of vocational technicians and other auxiliary support staff in a co-operative framework to keep the whole operation running, thereby creating a ton of good, decently-paying side jobs in the process.
readme3 7y ago
I read recently , just some numbers that many TPS (Thermal power stations) are slowly being shutdown , because of myriad of reasons including water shortages , coal emission norms and falling costs of power (TPS /unit power is much higher than other sources) https://numerical.co.in/numerons/collection/5afecac0291c55fc1f45e6ec https://numerical.co.in/numerons/collection/5afecac0291c55fc... There are places like Raichur (famous for Rice cultivation down here) that has Super thermal stations that shutdown due to lack of water. In my home state , we can generate solar power from the rooftops and send it back to the grid and get paid for it. Best part is , I get the panel on a subsidized rate as well. Where i currently stay , solar water heaters are mandatory to get occupancy certificates for individual houses. Without crediting anyone (and hence labeling myself as pro/con government) , recent norms have forced rethink of dirty fuels. Delhi had a ban on diesel passenger vehicles as well. An example is India's largest car manufacturer Maruti to stop diesel cars by 2020 (https://www.deccanherald.com/business/maruti-to-stop-making-diesel-cars-from-2020-730653.html https://www.deccanherald.com/business/maruti-to-stop-making-...) A combination of improved public transport (metros) and these little steps on energy self sufficiency will go a long way in the short to middle term (5-10 years is my guess) In a hugely negative world , I find these heartening.We have unstable grids , but quite looking forward to stability in electricity.
- 0xFFFE 7y ago
  If only we can get an efficient & cost effective Thorium reactor working, most of the coal plants can be shutdown much sooner. Going by publicly available data, we are no where near a working prototype.
  - pjc50 7y ago
    Aren't these also going to be vulnerable to the lack of water problem?
    - 0xFFFE 7y ago
      Valid point. For the same generating capacity, water consumption should be similar assuming same location. But a nuclear power plant has different site selection criteria than other plants.
oska 7y ago
In the looping video at the top of the article, notice how confidently the woman in the red & yellow sari steps out in front of the rickshaw (making it wait for her to cross).
- srean 7y ago
  Right of way works a little differently in India, different from what you may be used to.
  - oska 7y ago
    I like it. I like pedestrians asserting themselves in traffic. I think in urban areas pedestrians should have precedence. Walking is our natural way of getting around.
    - vinay427 7y ago
      In most places in Europe or the US, you wouldn't have to stand in the way of a vehicle to get them to stop. You would just use the nearest crosswalk and vehicles will nearly always stop as soon as it's clear that you're crossing.
      - srean 7y ago
        India is an exception to that too. There they will speed up to scare you out of the crosswalk
ForFreedom 7y ago
Messy? "The automakers are loosing business because of custom made electric vehicles" should have been the title.
- factorialboy 7y ago
  Typical NYT bias when it comes to reporting on India. Not the first time, certainly won't be the last.
sudhirj 7y ago
I'm in a major city, and the grid isn't very stable, but stable enough for me to get an electric vehicle that I need to charge once a week. Solar panels are easy to get, but the utilities are realizing that nett metering isn't a good deal for them - my otherwise high electricity bill will be zero if I get solar panels, and so they have no incentive to service my house. That aside, because our cities are so crowded and generally hot already, everyone is very keenly aware of the heat and smoke diesel and petrol vehicles put out - if electric vehicles are affordable and charging infrastructure is in place, there's going to be no problems with adoption. The issue, of course, is that making them affordable and setting up charging infra go against the interests of the oil and gas companies that built India up to where it is so far. To its credit, though, the government seems keen to get things going, even at the expense of breaking earlier promises to big oil and big auto. Now it's just figuring out the chicken and egg situation of bringing down costs and setting up infra without clear current demand.
- noneeeed 7y ago
  We really need to move to a model of charging a flat fee for a connection, and then metered rate for electricity. Wrapping everything up in the metered rate just creates annoying disincentives for the utility companies.
dillllan-li 7y ago
“It isn’t safe at all,” said Suman Deep Kaur, who works at a credit agency and rides an e-rickshaw twice a day between the station and her home. “But this is the only conveyance that will get me home.” Interested in All Things Tech? The Bits newsletter will keep you updated on the latest from Silicon Valley and the technology industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_I... https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/ctwyka/inside_indias_messy_electric_vehicle_revolution/ https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/ctwyka/in... https://essaybulls.com/ https://essaybulls.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicl...
dillllan-li 7y ago
About 60 million Indians hop on an e-rickshaw every day, analysts estimate. Passengers pay about 10 rupees, or 14 cents, for a ride. In a country with limited shared transit options and a vast population of working poor people, the vehicles provide a vital service as well as a decent living for drivers, who are mostly illiterate.
- wsxcde 7y ago
  What is the citation for the drivers being "mostly illiterate"? Sounds like bullshit to me. The country is something like 70-80% literate and a significant part of the illiterate population consists of old people.
  - brij0102 7y ago
    Memory is foggy and I don't have a citation but didn't the definition of literacy in India just involved the ability to read/write your name (officially by govt)? I wouldn't be surprised if a significant percentage was functionally illiterate - that doesn't mean they aren't smart though - likely smarter than the author :)
cindyyy 7y ago
“I have struggled a lot,” he said in an interview in the one-room flat he shares with his eldest son. “But now she can use her hands. Now she can walk.”
modi15 7y ago
India auto sector (mostly ICE based) is a bit in the doldrums. It seems to me that govt. just maybe wants to let it be in favor of a longer term move to electric.
nkoren 7y ago
These are a step in the right direction, but are not as environmentally effective as you might think. Major changes in India's grid energy are needed before this will yield significant improvements. I was the project lead for a (sadly failed) electric autonomous vehicle project in India, the Amritsar Pod[1]. This was using a technology which, when deployed in the west, is vastly environmentally superior to (say) buses. That's for several reasons that are broadly shared with electric rickshaws: 1. As a demand-responsive vehicle, it only runs when there is passenger demand. So (aside from empty-vehicle redistribution movements) there is a minimum occupancy of 25% (for a single person in a 4-person vehicle), and in many cases, the average occupancy is closer to 35%-50%. This is in contrast to buses, which need to keep circulating even when there is little or no demand. A full-occupancy bus is very efficient, but a 50-person-capacity bus that is carrying 4 passengers is more polluting, per-person than a single-occupant SUV. This is in fact the case in America, where the average occupancy of urban buses is 9%. In Europe it's more like 20-25%. But in both cases, pods are still more efficient. 2. As electric vehicles, they of course produce no tailpipe emissions, and are as clean as whatever grid they draw power from. So put these two factors together, and it's an environmentally winning proposition in the West (although it hasn't caught on there either, yet). But interestingly, this calculation doesn't work in India: 1. The urban buses are hardly low-occupancy. Average occupancies tend to be around 55%, and can reach 85% in some cases. Replacing these with 25%-50% occupancy pods is only a win if the pods are significantly cleaner. 2. The grid energy is horribly dirty. What I found when I did a CO2 analysis of my system is that what would have reduced CO2 by > 90% in the West was merely a break-even proposition in India. Didn't increase CO2 -- and would've been worth doing on the basis of travel time savings, pedestrian conflicts, etc. -- but didn't actually help with CO2 either. This will be the case for any electric vehicle until India's grid becomes significantly cleaner. 1: https://www.ultraglobalprt.com/wheres-it-used/amritsar-india/ https://www.ultraglobalprt.com/wheres-it-used/amritsar-india...

128 points by tchalla 7y ago

One thing not mentioned in the article is that virtually all of Delhi's autorickshaws are powered by CNG, not gas/petrol. On the other hand, most of India's electricity comes from coal, and dirty coal at that. So is switching to e-rickshaws really a net benefit?

harryVic 7y ago
Coal power plants are more efficient than internal combustion engines. So yes, e-rickshaws are cleaner.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  Are cleaner than CNG rickshaws?
  - yoyogesh01 7y ago
    Some changes are neccesary for reform
  - knowThySelfx 7y ago
    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/CNG-run-vehicles-emit-dangerous-nanocarbon-CSIR-study-finds/articleshow/48377499.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/polluti... "The compressed natural gas run buses are harmful for humans as they emit "nanocarbon" particles which can cause cancer, according to a study conducted by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Though the study was conducted on a very limited sample size in Delhi, CSIR took the findings seriously owing to the health hazard it poses to humans and alerted the central government for further follow up, CSIR's director general Dr MO Garg said on Thursday." Could it breach Blood Brain Barrier? https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19339.php https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=19339.php "Another route by which nanoparticles can enter the brain is via the olfactory nerve, circumventing the blood-brain barrier. The olfactory nerve (nervus olfactorius) has a direct connection to the brain by way of its long processes (axons). It is therefore conceivable that inhaled nanoparticles enter the olfactory nerve and are transported to the brain along the axons" It says nanoparticles. Not sure nano carbon is included in it.
ggm 7y ago
Even dirty coal is possibly better than dirty diesel and petrol. Yes, its dirty: what kind of remediation can be done in a centralized generator, compared to distributed catalytic converters in exhaust (which fail in service, or are not fitted) and a huge burden in NO and related problems. Coal is bad, polluting, creates health hazards and we need to get rid of it. Petrol and Diesel are not "better" and there are reasons central generation may overall be net beneficial especially given the efficiency of generation, transmission losses and in-engine effects comparing ICE to EV
- Mikeb85 7y ago
  Dirty coal and the inefficiencies associated with generating electricity, then storing it in lead-acid batteries and then turning an e-rickshaw is definitely less efficient and far more polluting than autorickshaws running on CNG.
  - ggm 7y ago
    OK, I'll bite. Cite please. Include full lifecycle costs on CNG, including fracking and shipping.
    - Mikeb85 7y ago
      Here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-10-31/you-ll-need-286-pounds-of-coal-to-fuel-that-electric-road-trip https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/arti...
      - ggm 7y ago
        Even with all those losses, the electric vehicle road trip is still better for the climate than driving a gasoline-powered car. Burning that much coal would release about 310 kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, compared with 350 kilograms by the 40 gallons of gasoline. Even though coal tends to emit more pollutants than oil for the amount of energy it generates, the efficiency of the electric vehicle, which recharges its battery with every brake, more than makes up the difference. But.. the article doesn't say "CNG is better" It just says the worst-case costs in the US, for coal sourced power to charge the batteries.
melling 7y ago
Sure. It’s easier to switch a few coal plants to gas, solar, etc than try and convince millions of people to switch to EV’s. The hard part is done. The article says the electricity is often stolen. We’ll call that market forces.
jbarham 7y ago
Reading between the lines, it seems that a major advantage of e-rickshaws is that it's easier to steal electricity to recharge them vs gas/petrol.

nautical 7y ago

I have been living in Delhi city since a LONG time and I have seen these cropping up mainly on metro routes. There is a major shift towards using public transport in general. Many people having cars have started to prefer e-rickshaw and metro combination for daily travel. It is very cheap ( about 1 dollar e-rickshaw and metro combined - both ways - basically about 30 dollar your monthly travel is sorted ). It is cleaner ( Being public mode, there are benefits ) It has become one of the fastest way to travel.

shard972 7y ago
As long as your not a young pretty woman.
bobsil1 7y ago
Delhi metro is fantastic — new, modern, floor-through, nicer than NYC’s/London’s.

mastazi 7y ago

> It’s messy, improvised and driven by the people. The government and vehicle makers are now trying to gain some control over it. This is a good introduction but the rest of the article seems to side heavily with the latter (vehicle makers and startups like SmartE) while criticising the "homebrew" market for being "disorganised". I'm going to disagree for two reasons: 1. From a workers rights point of view, I'm not sure that drivers renting their vehicle from a startup is better than drivers owning their own ride. 2. On a technological level a varied market with many alternatives can sometimes better facilitate innovation as opposed to an oligopoly limited to 2-3 larger actors. Disclaimer: I know nothing about India in general, so my opinion is that of an uninformed external observer.

pramit 7y ago
I agree.
abhiminator 7y ago
>1. From a workers rights point of view, I'm not sure that drivers renting their vehicle from a startup is better than drivers owning their own ride. I agree with the gist of your comment, however, given that the majority of drivers in India are illiterate and not economically well off (especially considering the maintenance costs as a % of the vehicle's initial MSP), I think it makes sense for them to rent the e-rickshaws out from a centralized provider/operator -- initially, at least -- until the drivers reach a certain level of economic prosperity and familiarity with the technology. Another option could be the mass training of vocational technicians and other auxiliary support staff in a co-operative framework to keep the whole operation running, thereby creating a ton of good, decently-paying side jobs in the process.

readme3 7y ago

I read recently , just some numbers that many TPS (Thermal power stations) are slowly being shutdown , because of myriad of reasons including water shortages , coal emission norms and falling costs of power (TPS /unit power is much higher than other sources) https://numerical.co.in/numerons/collection/5afecac0291c55fc1f45e6ec https://numerical.co.in/numerons/collection/5afecac0291c55fc... There are places like Raichur (famous for Rice cultivation down here) that has Super thermal stations that shutdown due to lack of water. In my home state , we can generate solar power from the rooftops and send it back to the grid and get paid for it. Best part is , I get the panel on a subsidized rate as well. Where i currently stay , solar water heaters are mandatory to get occupancy certificates for individual houses. Without crediting anyone (and hence labeling myself as pro/con government) , recent norms have forced rethink of dirty fuels. Delhi had a ban on diesel passenger vehicles as well. An example is India's largest car manufacturer Maruti to stop diesel cars by 2020 (https://www.deccanherald.com/business/maruti-to-stop-making-diesel-cars-from-2020-730653.html https://www.deccanherald.com/business/maruti-to-stop-making-...) A combination of improved public transport (metros) and these little steps on energy self sufficiency will go a long way in the short to middle term (5-10 years is my guess) In a hugely negative world , I find these heartening.We have unstable grids , but quite looking forward to stability in electricity.

0xFFFE 7y ago
If only we can get an efficient & cost effective Thorium reactor working, most of the coal plants can be shutdown much sooner. Going by publicly available data, we are no where near a working prototype.
- pjc50 7y ago
  Aren't these also going to be vulnerable to the lack of water problem?
  - 0xFFFE 7y ago
    Valid point. For the same generating capacity, water consumption should be similar assuming same location. But a nuclear power plant has different site selection criteria than other plants.

oska 7y ago

In the looping video at the top of the article, notice how confidently the woman in the red & yellow sari steps out in front of the rickshaw (making it wait for her to cross).

srean 7y ago
Right of way works a little differently in India, different from what you may be used to.
- oska 7y ago
  I like it. I like pedestrians asserting themselves in traffic. I think in urban areas pedestrians should have precedence. Walking is our natural way of getting around.
  - vinay427 7y ago
    In most places in Europe or the US, you wouldn't have to stand in the way of a vehicle to get them to stop. You would just use the nearest crosswalk and vehicles will nearly always stop as soon as it's clear that you're crossing.
    - srean 7y ago
      India is an exception to that too. There they will speed up to scare you out of the crosswalk

ForFreedom 7y ago

Messy? "The automakers are loosing business because of custom made electric vehicles" should have been the title.

factorialboy 7y ago
Typical NYT bias when it comes to reporting on India. Not the first time, certainly won't be the last.

sudhirj 7y ago

I'm in a major city, and the grid isn't very stable, but stable enough for me to get an electric vehicle that I need to charge once a week. Solar panels are easy to get, but the utilities are realizing that nett metering isn't a good deal for them - my otherwise high electricity bill will be zero if I get solar panels, and so they have no incentive to service my house. That aside, because our cities are so crowded and generally hot already, everyone is very keenly aware of the heat and smoke diesel and petrol vehicles put out - if electric vehicles are affordable and charging infrastructure is in place, there's going to be no problems with adoption. The issue, of course, is that making them affordable and setting up charging infra go against the interests of the oil and gas companies that built India up to where it is so far. To its credit, though, the government seems keen to get things going, even at the expense of breaking earlier promises to big oil and big auto. Now it's just figuring out the chicken and egg situation of bringing down costs and setting up infra without clear current demand.

noneeeed 7y ago
We really need to move to a model of charging a flat fee for a connection, and then metered rate for electricity. Wrapping everything up in the metered rate just creates annoying disincentives for the utility companies.

dillllan-li 7y ago

“It isn’t safe at all,” said Suman Deep Kaur, who works at a credit agency and rides an e-rickshaw twice a day between the station and her home. “But this is the only conveyance that will get me home.” Interested in All Things Tech? The Bits newsletter will keep you updated on the latest from Silicon Valley and the technology industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_I... https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/ctwyka/inside_indias_messy_electric_vehicle_revolution/ https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/ctwyka/in... https://essaybulls.com/ https://essaybulls.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicl...

dillllan-li 7y ago

About 60 million Indians hop on an e-rickshaw every day, analysts estimate. Passengers pay about 10 rupees, or 14 cents, for a ride. In a country with limited shared transit options and a vast population of working poor people, the vehicles provide a vital service as well as a decent living for drivers, who are mostly illiterate.

wsxcde 7y ago
What is the citation for the drivers being "mostly illiterate"? Sounds like bullshit to me. The country is something like 70-80% literate and a significant part of the illiterate population consists of old people.
- brij0102 7y ago
  Memory is foggy and I don't have a citation but didn't the definition of literacy in India just involved the ability to read/write your name (officially by govt)? I wouldn't be surprised if a significant percentage was functionally illiterate - that doesn't mean they aren't smart though - likely smarter than the author :)

cindyyy 7y ago

“I have struggled a lot,” he said in an interview in the one-room flat he shares with his eldest son. “But now she can use her hands. Now she can walk.”

modi15 7y ago

India auto sector (mostly ICE based) is a bit in the doldrums. It seems to me that govt. just maybe wants to let it be in favor of a longer term move to electric.

nkoren 7y ago

These are a step in the right direction, but are not as environmentally effective as you might think. Major changes in India's grid energy are needed before this will yield significant improvements. I was the project lead for a (sadly failed) electric autonomous vehicle project in India, the Amritsar Pod[1]. This was using a technology which, when deployed in the west, is vastly environmentally superior to (say) buses. That's for several reasons that are broadly shared with electric rickshaws: 1. As a demand-responsive vehicle, it only runs when there is passenger demand. So (aside from empty-vehicle redistribution movements) there is a minimum occupancy of 25% (for a single person in a 4-person vehicle), and in many cases, the average occupancy is closer to 35%-50%. This is in contrast to buses, which need to keep circulating even when there is little or no demand. A full-occupancy bus is very efficient, but a 50-person-capacity bus that is carrying 4 passengers is more polluting, per-person than a single-occupant SUV. This is in fact the case in America, where the average occupancy of urban buses is 9%. In Europe it's more like 20-25%. But in both cases, pods are still more efficient. 2. As electric vehicles, they of course produce no tailpipe emissions, and are as clean as whatever grid they draw power from. So put these two factors together, and it's an environmentally winning proposition in the West (although it hasn't caught on there either, yet). But interestingly, this calculation doesn't work in India: 1. The urban buses are hardly low-occupancy. Average occupancies tend to be around 55%, and can reach 85% in some cases. Replacing these with 25%-50% occupancy pods is only a win if the pods are significantly cleaner. 2. The grid energy is horribly dirty. What I found when I did a CO2 analysis of my system is that what would have reduced CO2 by > 90% in the West was merely a break-even proposition in India. Didn't increase CO2 -- and would've been worth doing on the basis of travel time savings, pedestrian conflicts, etc. -- but didn't actually help with CO2 either. This will be the case for any electric vehicle until India's grid becomes significantly cleaner. 1: https://www.ultraglobalprt.com/wheres-it-used/amritsar-india/ https://www.ultraglobalprt.com/wheres-it-used/amritsar-india...