Infinite Mobility is a Norwegian tech company that designs and manufactures light-weight solar-powered tricycles. Its electric tuk-tuks are powered by solar photovoltaic (PV) cells.
Auto Futures has been talking to Lupi Love, Infinite Mobility’s CEO. He previously worked for leading Norwegian companies in the industrial manufacturing sector such as automotive, marine, oil drilling technology and paper packaging.
“In my professional career, I witnessed how many greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions result from transporting people and goods. We need to rethink how we move. We need innovation that is environmentally friendly without compromising on comfort,” says Love.
The idea for Infinite Mobility was born in April 2020 as a result of a brainstorming effort between Love and two friends who are now co-founders.
“We were discussing some of the largest challenges facing smart cities as well as sustainability, government regulation, limited parking spaces, EV charging challenges, total cost of owning a vehicle and the fact that transporting a 75 kg passenger in a 1,500 kg car over a short distance is unsustainable! It is literally a transport of metal rather than human! It should not be like that. We need new sustainable solutions that provide our daily mobility while not compromising our comfort, safety and wellbeing.”
“We have been looking for a solution for micro-mobility that is safe, provides protection from weather conditions, affordable, visually appealing, lightweight and run by renewable energies. What else can it be? Our product matches all these criteria. Myself and the CTO have been friends for many years, I got involved because I wanted to utilize my educational and work experiences backgrounds in industrial manufacturing and supply chain management,” he adds.
The result was an electric tuk-tuk powered by the sun.
“Infinite Mobility AS was founded with mission to enable the vision of Energy-Positive Vehicles in which a vehicle will produce electricity higher than it is required to operate. This is the equivalent to energy positive buildings. Our core business is designing and manufacturing light-weight electric vehicles powered by solar photovoltaic (PV) cells.”
Love went on to explain the key benefits of micro-mobility solutions. “Micro-mobility vehicles are agile, can use cycle lanes, take shortcuts and park with ease. Meanwhile, traditional vehicles spent three times as long stuck in traffic and drive around looking for parking spaces. Whilst micro-mobility hardly needed to walk at all – having parked just outside the door, traditional vehicles drivers walked approximately a third of their total distance.”
Micro-mobility vehicles consume 74% less energy than traditional vehicles for the same distance. Vehicle weight is the obvious factor here, says Love. The amount of emissions from manufacturing micro-mobility vehicles is far lower than traditional vehicles due to less consumption of materials needed to build micro-mobility vehicles.
They are also cheaper to buy than four-wheel cars. “In terms of both costs and environmental impact micro-mobility vehicles have a distinct edge – but that’s not all. Depending on where you’re based, micro-mobility vehicles sales are now often supported by subsidies from local, regional or national government,” he notes.
“Frequent and slow recharging is one of the most annoying aspects of EVs.”
Infinite’s tricycles have a wide range of applications. They are aimed at individual drivers, last-mile cargo delivery businesses, taxi and limousine providers, public authorities and leasing companies.
But why choose solar, particularly in a country that is not known for its sunlight?
“Solar is becoming the new king of the world’s electricity markets. Solar Vehicles is the process of integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) cells into the car’s body. When exposed to the sun irradiation, these cells will generate electricity to recharge EV batteries. A vehicle has typically 4 to 6 m2 of surface that can be covered by solar cells. Solar PV has witnessed a considerable cost reduction in the last decade, and it is expected that the trend will continue,” explains Love.
” As per today’s pricing, a meter square of solar cells will cost circa $50, which means that covering a car with 6 m2 will cost circa $300. Six meters square is the equivalent of 600 Wp of solar cells. This capacity can produce up to 604 kWh by year in a city like Rome.”
“A light vehicle consuming 60 W/km can achieve up to 10 000 km by year from solar energy which is more than the yearly average distance travelled in an urban area. The biggest benefit of having solar cells is almost eliminating the need for frequent recharging from the grid. In fact, frequent and slow recharging is one of the most annoying aspects of EVs.”
“Our manufacturing process is very decentralised – we try to locate the assembly line as close as possible to the location of use of the vehicle. We are already in the process of establishing two manufacturing units – one in the Philippines to serve the Asian market and one in Tunisia to serve the European market. In Oslo, the engineering, marketing and procurement is centralised. By creating small assembly units close to the market, we will have more flexibility in adapting the methods and products to the local conditions.”
Baby Steps for the Solar Vehicle Sector
Infinite Mobility has teamed up with the Tuk Tuk Life initiative, a non-for-profit project founded by two South-African adventurists Karl van Zyl and his wife Santi du Toit, whose mission is to make people more environmentally conscious. They will travel around the world in a solar electric auto rickshaw. Infinite is providing a custom built vehicle for the journey.
“This year they will attempt to break several world records by travelling around the world in one of our Tuk Tuks – relying on renewable energy to power their 50 000km journey. The 18-month journey will see them depart from Manila, Philippines on the 1st of September 2021, drive across Asia, down through Africa, up South, Central and North America to finally cross the US to end in Times Square in New York at the end of April 2023,” says Love.
Finally, we asked Love what urban mobility will look like by the end of the decade.
“According to Allied Market Research, the global solar vehicle market is expected to be $329.5 million in 2023 and is projected to reach $4,087.6 million by 2030, registering a CAGR of 43.3%. North America and Europe are expected to collectively account for around 77.6% share in 2023, with the former constituting around 42.1% share. So this type of vehicle is only at its infant stage,” he concludes.
Keyword: Infinite Mobility’s ‘Energy-Positive Vehicles’ – The Norwegian Start-up Building Solar-Powered Tuk-Tuks