THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Electric auto rickshaws (e-autos) have been rolled out in the capital city on Saturday by the city corporation as part of Smart city Thiruvananthapuram Limited for promoting electric mobility. Industries Minister E P Jayarajan flagged off 15 e-autos which were manufactured in the public sector company, Kerala Automobiles Limited (KAL).
“The new set of vehicles are pollution free and eco-friendly. An expansion of the operations of KAL is in the offing as the company gets vehicle order from in and outside the country,” Jayarajan said. Co-operation Minister Kadakampally Surendran has handed over the keys to the 15 women drivers.
He said that the corporation has succeeded in completing the projects worth Rs 1500 crore as part of Smart city project. A rehabilitation programme worth Rs 65 crore is on the anvil at Rajaji Nagar colony.
Each auto rickshaw costs Rs 2.95 lakh. These vehicles will enable shared auto scheme and will be equipped with GPS tracking and printed bill facility.
The e-autos will have a passenger capacity of three and e-rickshaws will carry four passengers. The company has mandated that e-autos and e-rickshaws shall be battery operated with lithium battery and that charging cable should be ‘fast charging’ enabled. Besides, it should have real time GPS tracking system with emergency request buttons.
The vehicles should also have facility for generating printed bills for commuters for greater transparency and acceptance. The vehicles cab also travel upto 85 km with one time charging. Mayor K Sreekumar, K Anselan MLA, Deputy Mayor Rakhi Ravikumar, KAL chairman Karamana Hari also attended the occasion.