Newcomer Biliti Electric launches delivery fuel cell trike

E-mobility company Biliti Electric has unveiled a hydrogen fuel cell electric trike. The ‘FastMile’ takes clues from e-tuk-tuks which are widespread in India but since Biliti is based in California and only rooted in India, they will launch the last-mile FCEV in the US first.

Biliti calls the new vehicles FastMile since it claims a refuelling time of fewer than three minutes for a range of up to 130 miles. The payload capacity is 1500 lbs or 680 kilos.

When asked about infrastructure and target markets, Biliti’s Chief Operations Officer Sri Harsha Bavirisetty told electrive.com that their focus for the fuel cell tuk-tuk was the US, more specifically San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City, all urban centres with speed restrictions, he said. The press statement also lists coastal and island communities, gated neighbourhoods, and sprawling suburbia as “key markets” for these three-wheelers.

Biliti Electric specialises in light electric vehicles since 2021, and while the company is fairly young, its battery-electric ‘Taskman’ has been ground tested by clients such as Amazon, Ikea, Flipkart (Walmart), Wasoko (Sokowatch), BigBasket (Tata), Zomato, or JioMart (Reliance).

As for the new FCEV coming in, Biliti CEO Rahul Gayam said they were “transforming the application and commercialization of HFCs by bringing the technology to compact and affordable vehicles as well.”

Hydrogen infrastructure will remain an issue, whereas Biliti offers battery swapping called SmartSwapp for the BEV version FastMile. The vehicle has a certified range of 110 miles and is designed for commercial last-mile deliveries.

The company’s vehicles run in 15 countries, including Japan, the USA, UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Lebanon, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai and India. Biliti has partnered with GMW Electric for distribution.

They also target setting up “the world’s largest” electric three-wheeler factory in India’s Telangana state, with a production capacity of 240,000 electric vehicles each year.

In terms of financing, Luxembourg-based GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (GEM) last November made a $400 million PIPE investment commitment.

As a historical side note – it is not the first time ricksha’s received a fuel cell. In 2014, UK researchers reportedly attempted a similar project, launching a four-wheeler with a fuel cell powered by solar cells.

Info on FastMile FCEV via email.

bilitielectric.com (GEM investment), bilitielectric.com (Indian factory)