KOCHI: Yet another perplexing revelation has surfaced regarding the e-autorickshaw fiasco on Kaloor metro station premises.
While it is true that the unavailability of the promised funds forced members of the Ernakulam District Autorickshaw Drivers Co-operative Society to leave their e-autorickshaws parked on the KMRL property, moving these vehicles now requires assistance from a Bengaluru-based energy services firm, TNIE has learnt.
Why? These e-autorickshaws are without batteries.
Binu Varghese, an officer-bearer of the society, confirmed the same. “The nearly 30 autorickshaws now parked at the Kaloor metro station do not have batteries. These vehicles are of the swappable-battery model. They could be taken out, and a new fully charged battery could be put in its place. This meant no downtime for the drivers,” he said.
However, after noticing that the e-autorickshaws were non-operational for a long time, the company SunMobility took them back, Binu clarified. “It has been about a year now since this development,” he added.
Prolonged periods of inactivity may hamper a battery’s life. Therefore, it makes sense that the company took them. However, the incident does raise yet another set of questions. To whom do these vehicles really belong if, even after purchase, the energy supplier reclaims the batteries? And whether this was factored into the project’s paperwork.
Though TNIE reached out to SunMobility, the firm was not available for comment.
“Following KMRL’s directive to have the e-autorickshaws removed from their premises, the society has written to the company to see the batteries returned. It is expected that they will do so in an urgent manner,” Binu clarified, adding, “We can only move the autorickshaws after the batteries are fixed.”
But even if the batteries do come, the fact remains that for the e-autorickshaws to run as intended, the designated government funds have to be unlocked.
Ownership in question
An officer-bearer of the Ernakulam District Autorickshaw Drivers Co-operative Society said the company SunMobility took the batteries back as the e-autos were non-operational for a long time
The move has raised question — to whom do these vehicles really belong if, even after purchase, the energy supplier reclaims the batteries?