Innovation

"Witnessing the menacing pollution and mindless vehicular congestion in big cities and seeing Goa slowly move in the same direction, Arcis determined to bring about a change", says Samarth. The objective of the firm is quite simple: 'Combining Clean Technology with the Joys of Tourism'.

This is a first of its kind initiative across India. Currently, they are offering electric cycles for tours, but going forward they are also planning to explore other Electric Vehicles.

Their Electric cycles work in three modes:

1) When the motor is not active, it is a normal cycle

2) When the motor is active, the pedal assist comes on making pedalling an effortless activity

3) When there is a throttle, it can take the E-Bike up to 25 kmph.

(SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation)

Inspiration

"While enjoying swimming in the transparent waters, refreshing breeze and lush green surroundings, Goa is truly bliss on Earth", as per Samarth, CEO, Arcis Energy.

"Noticing the ever increasing pollution and traffic clogging in the metros, it was always peaceful to live in Goa. But, nowadays even Goa has also started observing the same condition", said Samarth. So, he was willing to do something innovative to keep a check on this situation. He got in touch with his close friend Sandeep, who had just come back home from abroad.

After some days of deliberations and eagerness to come up with an innovative solution for the problem, they came up with “Electric Vehicle Tourism”, the first-in-class initiative in India. This combined the know-how of Sandeep in the field of Electric Vehicles and Samarth’s keen eye for Goa Tourism. This initiative tries to integrate the ecological balance of Goa with its economic development.

In tandem with the joy of riding a bicycle, this initiative gives an opportunity to tourists to uncover greenery of the Ghats, have an encounter with the locals and above all, create memories for the life through such a lively experience of Goa.

So, the idea of ‘sustainable tourism’ motivated and kept Samarth and Sandeep striving to make it a reality.

Source:

http://www.arcisenergy.com/

Overall impact

The EV technology using the E-Bike has a much lower carbon footprint than tradition fuel-based vehicles. For instance, a car traveling a similar tour route would have 100x more emissions than an electric bike. While using alternate energy is not possible at the moment, we have installed Solar Panels at our e-Charging hubs to ensure that minimum grid electricity is used, which ultimately results in lesser pollution.

This innovation tries to transform the tourism industry by shifting the focus from gasoline driven vehicles to eco- vehicles. Automotive pollution has a major contribution to the recent degradation of the environment that is being witnessed all over the world. The e-bike innovation can be the future to transportation and help in maintaining ecological balance.

This innovation can also attract more investment in terms of FDI as the issue of automobile pollution has a global concern. It can also attract bigger revenue from tourism as this could be a new experience for the tourist.

(SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all)

Business benefit

Globally there is a clear transition towards EVs as companies worldwide are focusing their production towards electric vehicles. This is happening with the help of Government policies, environment conscious users, higher range of EVs and constantly improving their charging infrastructure.

While countries like UK have set 2040 as a Zero emission target, the world’s biggest EV market has issued regulations to ensure that 2019 marks a significant year towards driving a massive transition to new-energy vehicles led by electric vehicles. India also has been promoting Electric Vehicles through FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles) first launched in 2015. The future of EVs, as per the report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) says that India will have better progress on electric two-wheelers, rickshaws and electric buses over the next 10 years.

Arcis Energy is contributing towards clean energy by providing solutions for the problem of pollution. They have raised capital of Rs. 54.86 lakhs for this purpose. Currently, Arcis has three directors:

Samarth Kholkar- Operations and Tech strategy

Sandeep Mukherjee- Business planning, Sales and Marketing

Tanmay Kholkar- Finance and Ecosystem partnerships

Source:

http://www.arcisenergy.com/

https://www.instafinancials.com/company/arcis-clean-energy-private-limited/U40300GA2018PTC013453

Social and environmental benefit

Goa currently has over 1.4 Million vehicles serving a population of about 1.5 Million citizens. In the last ten years, vehicular growth has been almost 130% with a large contribution from two-wheelers. To add to the same Goa gets about 8 Million Tourist every year and majorly during the peak season of October to February.

As per the available data, the number of vehicles on the roads in Panaji is always high. With this being the case, air quality standards in the state capital were above the daily permissible limit of 100 µg/m³ of PM10 concentration. Arcis Clean Energy Pvt Ltd is the pioneer of EV tourism in India. "Our goal is to drive adoption of sustainable mobility for tourism", says a smiling Samarth. ACE (Arcis Clean Energy) brings together leading technology, EV infrastructure, and immersive consumers experiences under one brand called B: Live, offers the joy of effortless riding on E-bikes while exploring the local culture, history and heritage of Goa. These E-bikes are equipped with state-of-the-art features like GPS trackers, battery powered motor for speeds up to 25kmph and electronic disc brakes for enhanced safety.

The localities and tourists can now enjoy the Goa as it is- serene and beautiful.

Interview

Samarth Kholkar, CEO