A Radical Radial Revolution !
Here is an opportunity ( or a threat ? ), for India's "
Organized / Large Scale Bi-cycle Manufacturers "
May be , between them , HERO / BSA / TI / ATLAS etc large scale
manufacturers , produce close to 50 % of India's production of 15 million
bicycles per year ( second largest in the World ) , rest being manufactured by
hundreds of small scale manufacturers , spread all over the country . Between
them , they also export some 3 million bicycles every year !
Bicycles
costing Rs 10,000 / - to Rs 20,000 / - each ( going down to Rs 5,000 for
locally made cheap versions )
Cambridge
( USA ) based GeoOrbital has come out
with a unique bicycle wheel for replacing the Front Wheel of any standard ( 26
" / 28 " ) existing bicycle , to convert it into an " Electric Bicycle " in ONE minute and without any tools !
Changing back to original Front Wheel of your vintage bicycle ,
will also take no more than ONE minute
GeoOrbital Front Wheel
carries a 500 Watt DC motor / a removable Lithium-Io battery / Wheel lock and a Motor
Controller ( a simple thumb activated throttle, which is easily clipped onto
your handlebar )
Battery
needs 3 / 4 hours to recharge ( depending upon capacity ) but gets Regenerative
Charge when you pedal !
It will give a range of 20 miles (50
miles
if you pedal for exercise ) with a speed of
20 MPH
( without pedaling )
Launched
in May 2016 , bulk deliveries will start in Feb 2017 . Overseas orders
will be accepted online @ $ 800
If
this GeoOrbital front wheel
was to be manufactured in India ( in a Joint Venture with GeoOrbital ? ) , then I
believe , the selling price could be brought down to Rs 10,000 / - (
opportunity for Indian Bicycle Manufacturers ? )
Can
our Policy Makers dream of an URBAN TRANSPORT REVOLUTION ( an
Orchestra super-conducted by
Shri Nitin Gadkari ? ) as follows :
#
ROLE OF
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
Encourage " Bike Share Taxi " ventures
using Electric Bicycles by offering them all
sorts of incentives , such as :
* 50 % subsidy on refitting of newly
purchased plain bicycles with GeoOrbital Front Wheels
* No Corporate or Personal Income Tax for 10
years
Of course , existence of similar " Bike Share Taxi
" ventures in many cities around the World , have already
proved this as a viable model for reducing traffic congestions / vehicle
pollution
#
ROLE OF CITY
MUNICIPALITIES
* Municipalities to make available free
" Parking " spaces , all over their cities for such ventures .
* Give 10 % rebate in Property Tax to
Co-op Housing Societies which provide 400 sq ft space to " Bike Share
Taxi " ventures
, within their compounds , FREE OF RENTAL
* " Bike Share Taxi " scheme
may be modeled around similar successful scheme BIXI
of Montreal Municipality
#
ROLE OF START UP VENTURES
* These Ventures will construct / install
their " Docking Stations " at these parking spaces ( GPS connected /
Wi-Fi enabled )
Each Docking
Station will automatically recharge built-in Battery, while cycle is
parked ( stationary )
* All bicycles owned by these ventures
to be GPS enabled for easy tracking by the Venture Owners
* A Digi-Met ( digital meter ) to be
fixed on all such bicycles where payment can be made by UPI ( Universal
Payment
Interface ) , about to be launched , across entire country ( a vastly
user-friendly , Mobile Wallet )
* Rates ( per km or per hour ) to be
fixed by a RTO designed fare calculating software , running on Digi-Met
#
ROLE OF MANOJ
BHARGAVA ( www.BillionsinChange.com
)
* Come up with a higher capacity electricity
generating bicycle device , which can charge FlashBattery charger
of Start Up , StoresDot
May be he can pre-install that StoresDot's
FlashBattery charger into the electricity generating device itself !
* Modify their FlashBattery Charger ( which
is capable of charging a Electric Car Battery in 5
MINUTES ) , to be
able to charge GeoOrbital's
replaceable battery pack , within ONE MINUTE
!
#
ROLE OF COOPERATIVE
HOUSING SOCIETIES
*
As an alternative to providing 400 sq ft open space to " Bike Share Taxi " ventures , build a GYM within
the
Society compound ( no need for FSI / no permission from local Municipality /
just file plans-drawings ) , which
will house :
# Manoj Bhargava's higher
capacity electricity generating bicycles (at least 5) and encourage
Members
FlashBattery . Credit exercising members with " 5 credit points " for
charging their own private GeoOrbital
installed bicycles for each hour of exercise
# Install StoreDot's
FlashBattery Chargers , duly connected to those devices for getting charged and
make
these available to Society Members who have earned credit points ( Rich members
may depute their
domestic
servants to exercise on their behalf ! )
This
simple innovation / intervention , has the potential to :
#
Dramatically reduce traffic congestion in big
cities
#
Reduce demand for new air-polluting cars using
fossil fuel
#
Even reduce dependence on Public Transport ( Bus /
Metro / Local trains / Taxis )
#
Reduce need for car parking spaces on streets
#
Become a Flag-Bearer to National Electric Mobility Mission Plan ( NEMMP ) which aims to put 6
million Electric Vehicles on our roads by 2020 ; totally possible if those
vehicles are " Electric Bicycles " , not
Cars !
I
hope Shri Nitin Gadkariji and Shri Piyush Goyalji , will acknowledge this suggestion , even
if they do not agree !
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19
Aug 2016
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
hemen
parekh
Marol
, Mumbai , India
(
M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
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