E-Trikes Thread

[jpdm]

A Japanese company wants to assemble e-trikes and cars here:

Japanese Company Mulls Plant Here
To Manufacture E-Motorcycles And E-Cars


By BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT
March 2, 2012, 2:47am
Manila Bulletin


MANILA, Philippines — Terra Motors Corp. of Japan has expressed keen interest to establish an electric motorcycle assembly plant in the country drawn by the strong local demand for motorcycles, which hit over 800,000 units last year. The Japanese firm also said they may invest in the assembly of electric cars later on.

Officials of Terra Motors have already met with officials of the Board of Investments to relay their plans. There were no details though in terms of investments for the planned e-motorcycle facility, the plant location and timeframe for the supposed project.

What the Japanese motorcycle said instead was that their e-motorcycles would be priced competitively with that of the traditional motorcycles. Terra Motors e-motorcycles would be sold at P50,000 per 50 c.c. motorcycle unit, which is competitive with the prices of traditional fuel engine combustion motorcycles.

Terra Motors has expressed preference for the Philippines because of the huge domestic market. They are also

looking at the possibility of exporting e-motorcycles to other ASEAN countries to take advantage of the zero duty trading regime in the region.

The Japanese firm has also plans to later embark into the assembly of e-cars depending on the progress of the e-motorcycle project.

Terra Motors was founded in April 2010 with paid-in capital of 213 million yen. It also raised 170 million yen in March last year from Mizuho Capital and other investors.

Terra Motors was originally created for the purpose of manufacturing and selling two wheels electric vehicles comprising of electric-bike and electric senior car or electric wheelchairs. With four products in its catalog, Terra Motors has also introduced an upgrade to one of its existing models with the BISMO Press.

source:Japanese Company Mulls Plant Here | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

[jpdm]

Batangas State University alumnus wins E-Trike design contest



By Precie Catherine Cuarto and Nephele Fabiola Kirong
Thursday 1st of March 2012

QUEZON CITY, March 1 (PIA) -- The design submitted by an alumnus of Batangas State University (BSU) bested 180 entries in the nationwide search for the Best E-Trike Design contest by the Department of Energy.


Engineer Allen Marie Pirales, who dubbed his design “The Second Wind,” placed first in the 10 chosen winners of the contest.



Based on Pilares’ description, his design gives a modern look to the tricycle. He emphasized on a the design compact to make it suitable for narrow roads but without compromising passenger comfort.



“Ang inspiration ko po ay ‘yung original tricycle. Kasi sabi nga po ni Secretary [Almendras]kanina, sobrang ingenious ng mga Pinoy na nagawang hanggang eight passengers ang two-passenger motorcycle. At ang problema lang po ay mausok lang talaga. I have always thought this can be improved at ngayon po na engineer [na] ako, I was thinking of how to improve it,” said Pilares.



(“My inspiration is the original tricycle. As what Sec. [Almendras] said a while ago, Filipinos are ingenious to the point that they were able to allow eight passengers from the standard two-passenger motorcycle. And the real problem is the smoke. I have always thought [that] this can be improved and now that I am an engineer, I was thinking of how to improve it,” said Pilares.)



Pilares, who was also a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology, graduated with a degree in Electronics Engineering from BSU.



He, together with first runner-up Julius Valiente of the University of the Philippines and second runner-up Norriele Ace Serrano of the Mapua Institute of Technology, rounded the top three winners that were given P200,000 each today at the awarding ceremony at the Philippine Information Agency. The remaining seven received a consolation prize of P50,000 each.



The design contest is one of the projects of DOE to resolve the country's dependency on price-volatile petroleum fuels.



Designs for the competition were judged based on the following criteria: 50 percent Aesthetics/Creativity; 20 percent Originality/ Innovation; 20 percent Safety and Functionality; and 10 percent Ergonomics.



Meanwhile, DOE Sec. Rene Almendras urged other contestants who were unable to make the cut to still continue pursuing the designs.



“To the other 170 [who are not recognized today], please don’t throw away your designs. Please do not stop looking for somebody who is willing to bet on your designs, build it, and try it, and pilot it,” said Almendras. (PCC/NFK/PIA-GHQ).

Source:PIA | Philippine Information Agency | Batangas State University alumnus wins E-Trike design contest

[ghosthunter]

A Japanese company wants to assemble e-trikes and cars here:

source:Japanese Company Mulls Plant Here | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

Just being realistic...

"interest" simply means it's on the options list along with places like Thailand, China, India, etc.

Until the contract is signed and the actual factory complex is built, it's just another press release.

[uls]

when you have $500M in financing (ADB/Phil. govt e-trike project) you're bound to attract investors

[donbuggy]

I didn't know about this e-Trike design contest. If I did I could have joined. But I was not informed. Next time nalang.

Anyway, congrats to the winners. Wala bang pictures of the winning designs?

[ghosthunter]

I didn't know about this e-Trike design contest. If I did I could have joined. But I was not informed. Next time nalang.

I think JPDM did post the contest in tsikot.com forum months ago.

Doing a "Christopher Lao" eh?

[donbuggy]

I blame everyone except myself. :bwahaha:

[makro]

I didn't know about this e-Trike design contest. If I did I could have joined. But I was not informed. Next time nalang.

Anyway, congrats to the winners. Wala bang pictures of the winning designs?

I joined that e trike since im on Design/Styling side and not engineering, sadly sa daming technicals and just found out na mababaw lang pala ang expectations sa gov't. They should have not made that contest since its the same thing, i think mas maganda pa yung existing.

Here's the link of my entry.
lil mischievous Maya & i: Mark’s design of e-trike

[donbuggy]

* makro,

Your e-Trike concept is way better than the three winning designs.

What software did you use for modeling and rendering?

[ghosthunter]

I joined that e trike since im on Design/Styling side and not engineering, sadly sa daming technicals and just found out na mababaw lang pala ang expectations sa gov't. They should have not made that contest since its the same thing, i think mas maganda pa yung existing.

Here's the link of my entry.
lil mischievous Maya & i: Mark’s design of e-trike

Just saying, the design looks nice but not realistic to the engineering that would be used to make the vehicles.



For one, extremely wide wheels and low profile tires would contribute to a harsh ride and high amounts of frictional drag at the wheels which would lower the efficiency of the vehicle. Second, they cost too much. Third, they weigh a lot.

The vehicle you designed has an enclosed cabin but in reality you will need an open cabin design with potential of straight/flat sliding windows or roll down "curtains" (probably sheet plastic) when it rains. This keeps costs down and manufacturing simple.

Having actual doors on the vehicle is a plus but potentially it might have been better to omit or keep it as an option. It would ease entry and exit from the vehicle plus having no physical doors, it would keep the vehicle lighter. But having doors would increase the safety aspect of the vehicle too.