RESEARCHERS from the University of Warwick are seeking to find out how used electric vehicle batteries could be used to power rickshaws in Bangladesh.
Motorised rickshaws, also known as easy-bikes, have gained popularity in Bangladesh due to their cost-effectiveness with one million of them all over the country.
However, the easy-bike currently uses a lead-acid battery for power, which has a lifetime of 6-12 months and therefore increases the operating cost as well as the carbon footprint.
In order to reduce the carbon footprint, researchers at Warwick are exploring the possibility of repurposing used Li-ion batteries.
Dr Mohammad Al-Amin from WMG at the University of Warwick commented on the research: “To prevent climate change, all cars in the future will need to be electric.
“However, the batteries in electric vehicles once they have reached their end of life, for car purposes, is something that can be explored more, as there is still energy left in them to be used.
“If we can re-purpose them to be used for easy-bikes in Bangladesh it will help lower their carbon footprint and provide the country with a new economy.
“Thousands of jobs opportunities could be created both in Bangladesh and the UK.”
The research is conducted with the help of a £25,000 grant from Global Challenges Research Fund, an award from the UK Research and Innovation aimed to deliver scalable solutions to issues faced by low and middle-income countries.
Currently, Li-ion batteries retire from electric vehicles after reaching 70-80% of their state of health.
At 70%, the lithium-ion battery still have three times higher energy density than a new lead-acid battery, and potentially can have a lifetime of 3-5 years in easy-bike application.
The researchers hope to repurpose the batteries to improve the energy storage life from 6-12 months to 3-5 years, which in turn will reduce the number of batteries being recycled and improve the ecosystem.
The new application of Li-ion batteries will be better environmentally without an additional cost in transport.
As easy-bike replaces manual driving, the quality of life will improve significantly and bring a socio-economic change to a large community in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, this development could reduce the consumption of grid-connected electricity which could be used to develop industries and infrastructure.
In fact, there are currently one million rickshaw pullers in Bangladesh who earn $4.8 billion every year.
The new development in easy-bikes will directly improve their economic status.
A few million people involved in vehicle support such as mechanics and manufacturing industries will also be benefited.
This project eventually could lead to mass production of second-life Li-ion batteries in Bangladesh, in conjunction with UK automobile industries, which could create job opportunities for thousands of people.
