Abstract

Introduction

Literature review

Electric vehicles — key concepts

Overview of hybrid three‑wheeler

Current state of the art of electric three‑wheeler

Policy gap

Methods

Duration

Rickshaw cost

Usage statistics

Expenditures and earnings

Sustainability analysis

Discussion

Reduced GHG emissions for environmental sustainability

Development of indigenous technology

Government easy loan scheme

Poverty amelioration for economic sustainability

Easily available charging stations

Promoting gender equality

Conclusions

Declarations

References

Abstract

     Transportation sector is one of the major contributors to GHG emissions, and it is essential to investigate the role of electric vehicles in economic and environmental performance of developing countries. In this research work, the authors seek to investigate the usage pattern of three-wheeler vehicle by taking a Pakistan-based survey approach and analyzing the responses from various three-wheeler drivers across the country. The survey results indicate that the adoption of hybrid and electric three-wheelers in Pakistan would be welcomed by the users due to increased economic benefits, despite having a high initial capital cost. On an average basis, the regular three-wheeler is run for more than 5 days a week, 101–۱۵۰ km daily across more than 10 h, and enables the owner to make around PKR 20,000–۲۵,۰۰۰ (~ US $119–US $149) after approximately PKR 15,000 (~ USD $89) is spent every month on fuel and maintenance. The adoption of hybrid or electric three-wheelers can easily improve the monthly earnings by 50%. In addition to this, the GHG emissions from the transportation sector will be considerably lowered around 3–۶ tonnes of CO2 emissions per year per three-wheeler. At an investment return period of 13–۱۶ months, the electric three-wheeler is a highly lucrative opportunity.

Introduction

     The industrial revolutions brought about a paradigm shift in the quality of lives of individuals; the world became a global village and the technological advancements resulted in extensive economic gains. However, the environmental impact of the economic gains was often overlooked and it eventually culminated in the pressing issue of climate change where the annual temperatures are forecasted to rise by 0.5–۴٫۵ °C over the next century (GoP, 2016) if stringent measures are not taken. In this context, it is incumbent upon the stakeholders and policymakers to identify the areas where the carbon footprint can be reduced through conscious eforts. Transportation sector is one of the major contributors to environmental pollution1 and the conventional internal combustion engines require stringent protocols for curbing the environmentally detrimental greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, countries have promoted the use of electric vehicles (Kwon et al., 2020; Daina et al., 2017) to reduce the environmental impact of transportation, in addition to numerous clean energy initiatives. The commercially available electric vehicles are broadly classifed into two categories: (i) plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or PHEVs and (ii) battery electric vehicles or BEVs and share the common aim of reducing the GHG emissions by reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels (Cofman et al., 2017). The worldwide adoption of hybrid technology vehicles has been an outcome of spreading awareness followed by relevant actions among governments, consumers, and producers.

Conclusions

     In this research work, the authors have sought to understand the usage pattern of three-wheeler vehicles and the general consensus on the adoption of electric threewheelers. Using a survey-based approach, data from 534 three-wheeler drivers were collected from the major metropolitan cities of Pakistan and it was observed that there exists an opportunity to introduce electric three-wheelers to achieve holistic sustainability. Many researchers have discussed the importance of adoption of electric vehicles and their economic benefts; however, the case of threewheelers from driver/owner viewpoint has remained an unexplored avenue. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the frst study that describes the usage pattern of three-wheelers and performs the sustainability analysis of adoption of three-wheeler vehicles in Pakistan, and it can be said with confdence that the results can be extended to other countries with similarity in socioeconomic demography. The higher price point of the electric or hybrid threewheeler will not afect the buyer as the investment can easily be recouped within 13 months if the three-wheeler is bought on lump sum basis, whereas the return period is 16 months if the electric or hybrid three-wheeler is bought through a government loan scheme. The adoption of electric three-wheelers will result in improved environmental performance as on average 3–۶ tons of CO2 emissions is produced from a single three-wheeler throughout the year at a driving cycle of 101–۱۵۰ km a day for 6 days a week. With more than 100,000 three-wheelers running across the country,