Converting Fume-Spewing Tuk Tuks into Green Delivery Machines

Large delivery trucks move big loads, but they aren’t always the most efficient solution for getting goods to consumers in dense urban areas. Plus, why use a 7-ton vehicle to transport a few small boxes in the last mile?

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Tuk tuks — three-wheeled, motorized rickshaws are already popular in many Southeast Asian and Latin American countries. They’re the perfect solution for moving small to mid-size packages through narrow and crowded streets.

In fact, many companies are exploring the option of incorporating tuk tuks into their delivery fleets. But gas-powered tuk tuks have high environmental costs. Yet, buying all-new electric ones is a capital-intensive initiative only feasible in affluent countries (which are often not where these tuk tuks are most needed.)

The Tanktwo Battery Operating System (TBOS) and Tanktwo Smartpak offer a plug-and-play solution to electrify existing tuk tuks, making it economically feasible to incorporate them into EV fleets at scale. 

Sample Smartpak configuration

A high-tech, low-cost solution for electrifying tuk tuks

A software-defined battery (SDB) system built on TBOS can solve the many challenges in electrifying tuk tuk fleets at scale. Here’s how:

Retrofit existing vehicles

Tuk tuks come in different shapes and sizes, making it virtually impossible to create a universal, monolithic battery pack that fits every vehicle. But custom battery solutions are expensive, time-consuming, and dangerous to produce.

Our modular solution allows operators to retrofit any existing vehicle by stacking Smartpaks in three dimensions (like Lego blocks) without any external cable connection to achieve the power they need — making it a breeze to electrify existing equipment. 

Support 24/7/365 operations

An ongoing challenge for commercial EV fleets is the extended downtime required to charge the vehicles. Our solution allows operators to swab out used cells with freshly-charged ones in minutes so the tuk tuks can be on the road around the clock to maximize operational cost efficiency and ROI.

Streamline inventory management

An EV fleet with different vehicles allows operators to select one with the appropriate size and range for each delivery. However, managing an inventory of tens or hundreds of battery packs is costly and inefficient. With our modular solution, you only need to stock one universal battery module and use any number to power vehicles of any size.

Low-horsepower electric tuk tuks typically run at a lower voltage (e.g., ~48V) while full-size electric delivery vans might need, say, 350V. You can outfit a tuk tuk with two Smartpaks and a delivery van with 15. You can then configure the output voltage to meet the performance requirements via TBOS’s easy-to-use user interface — without touching any hardware.

Mitigate supply chain fluctuations

If the type of cells your EVs use become unavailable, your operation could come to a grinding halt. TBOS allows the mix and match of cells of different ages and chemistries in a pack, leveraging interchangeable underlying assets to achieve supply chain fluidity. The flexibility also means operators aren’t dependent on one cell supplier so they can optimize costs.

Perform just-in-time maintenance

Conventional battery packs don’t provide data on each cell's state of health (SoH). To ensure reliability and operational continuity, operators must perform just-in-case maintenance — discarding perfectly healthy cells long before they’re close to failure. 

On the other hand, TBOS’s predictive analytics capabilities tell operators exactly which cell is likely to fail and when so they can schedule maintenance activities to change only cells ready to retire without impacting performance and reliability.

Charge from any power source

The grid is unreliable in many developing countries. Plus, charging EVs with power generated from fossil fuels won’t do enough to minimize an operation's carbon footprint. TBOS’s DycromaxTM architecture allows operators to charge battery packs from any power source, such as solar panels or hydro generators, to reduce grid dependency and maximize availability.

Adapt to changing regulations

Different jurisdictions and countries have varying requirements for electric tuk tuks’ output power, making it challenging for an international enterprise to standardize its equipment and streamline inventory. Moreover, these requirements may change, and overhauling the battery packs of each vehicle in a fleet is costly and time-consuming.

TBOS allows operators to change the output voltage of a battery pack on the fly via its software interface. With a few clicks, you can adapt output voltage to meet various operational and regulatory requirements without touching the hardware.

Future-proof equipment and battery systems

Lithium-ion batteries have substantial environmental implications, and efforts are already underway to find alternatives. With traditional battery solutions, you’d need to redesign and replace the battery pack in each vehicle to use cells of different chemistries — a costly and time-consuming initiative. 

Since TBOS allows the mix and match of cells of any chemistry, switching to a new technology can simply be part of the maintenance routine where the operator replaces old cells with new ones. The gradual transition doesn’t involve redesigning the battery packs, tossing out perfectly good cells, or experiencing extensive downtime.

Improve safety

TBOS’s predictive analytics and yellow-flagging capabilities allow the system to disable and bypass cells at risk of thermal runaway — adding much-needed safety features to an EV that operates in crowded areas where a lithium fire could lead to devastating consequences.

Electrifying EV fleets with a flexible battery solution

Tuk tuks are great examples of how SDBs can help lower costs and accelerate electrification at a commercial scale. The same concept applies to EV fleets using vehicles of any shape and form. The agility and flexibility of the solution will make the electrification of various applications at scale feasible for more people and places.