Surge Automobiles, a startup company owned by India’s leading two-wheel vehicle manufacturer Hero MotoCorp, has come up with an innovative kind of transports: a motorized rickshaw that allegedly takes three seconds to convert into a scooter.
It is called the S32 and runs on a chassis known as the AMSEP (Advanced Modular Scaleable Electric Platform). It comprises a 13-kW electric motor driving the rear wheels, a removable battery, and drivetrain electronics.
A compartment at the front end houses a whole two-seat scooter powered by its own 6-kW motor and its own battery pack. Its rear wheel can be lifted and mounted on a dedicated platform so that the driver can focus on driving the rickshaw using the handlebar and the rear e-motor. To detach the scooter and drive it, all you need is to pop up the windshield.
The three-wheel rickshaw chassis is versatile by design and can be reconfigured into a three-seat passenger car, a panel truck or a delivery van. It doesn’t go any faster than 45 km/h (28 mph), but the scooter can hit 60 km/h (37 mph). Electric range, pricing and availability dates are pending.