In Darbhanga, a new acid-battery rickshaw is selling for around 175,000 rupees, or $2,100, which is half the price of a new rickshaw powered by natural gas. Charging the battery costs 20 rupees (25 cents), one-fourth of the price of filling a gas tank. The rebates are working, as Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company, is converting its three-wheeled cargo vehicles from gas to electric. Food delivery services are also going electric as quickly as possible. Chetan Maini, whose company Sun Mobility builds charging infrastructure, said business was growing fast and battery prices are dropping, helping to push down the cost of electric two- and three-wheelers. In Darbhanga, around 200 electric rickshaws are sold a month, and in two years, electric rickshaws are expected to dominate the streets. Darbhanga, with a population of 300,000 people, is considered a sleepy town by Indian standards, but it is not quiet. Loudspeakers blast music from temples and advertising jingles from open-air shops, while horns honk and engines sputter. In that soundscape, Mr. Rai’s purring electric rickshaw is a relative rarity, one that delighted a recent passenger, a retired teacher named Satyen Vir Jha.
