Development of a micro-hybrid system for a three-wheeled motor taxi

Abstract

In large cities in Asia and Africa millions of auto-rickshaws offer their taxi-services. At the same time these three-wheelers cause severe air-pollution and produce large amounts of green house gasses (carbon dioxide). The goal of the research presented in this paper is to develop a compact, robust and affordable hybrid system in order to significantly reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of auto-rickshaws. A Bajaj RE auto-rickshaw equipped with a two-stroke engine is imported from India into The Netherlands and tested on a dynamo meter regarding fuel consumption and emissions on a representative drive cycle. A fully-automated, easy-to-mount, compact and affordable micro-hybrid system has been developed with which the fuel consumption and CO2-emissions are significantly reduced (21%) and the driver's comfort is increased.