Bangladesh company seeks to boost power grid with power derived from tuk-tuk batteries

A Bangladeshi startup is seeking to take advantage of the remaining electricity in electric taxi batteries known as tuk-tuks after they stop working overnight, and then add that remaining electricity to the public grid.

The streets of the capital, Dhaka, are filled with constant bustle from between the choir of horns, the ringing of bells, loud cars and rickshaws, and you can hear the electric buzz of the city's three-wheeled open taxis, called tuk-tuks, roaming the city.

Amid the chaos, Bangladesh-based startup Soulshare has discovered an opportunity to tap the country's estimated 2.5 million electric tuk-tuks and turn it into a "virtual power plant."

When the tuk-tuk returns to the garage at the end of the night, it comes back with 30% electricity in its battery reserve," says Salem Islam, head of projects at SolShare.

The startup claims that the electricity remaining in these batteries can provide up to 20% of the state's energy when demand is at its highest. Vehicles will also be recharged overnight when demand on the network is at its lowest.

Sol Share hopes that this portable power source will help stabilize Bangladesh's power grid – and support the country's economic development. "The demand for electricity is constantly increasing, because the population is also increasing, and as people's livelihoods improve, so do their energy requirements," says Islam.

The company launched its pilot program, called Solo Mobility, in 2021. It partnered with 15 tuk-tuk garages to upgrade the batteries of about 40 vehicles and began collecting data on mileage and three-wheeled vehicle activities.

Islam says smart batteries consume 40% less energy than lead-acid batteries. In addition, lithium-ion batteries charge in just six hours, about half the time of lead-acid batteries, and are lighter and more efficient. Although they are expensive and cost more than twice as much compared to lead-acid batteries, they last up to five times longer, Islam says.

Mohammed Deloire Hussain, who has been driving a tuk-tuk in Dhaka's Tunji suburb for more than a decade, began using a smart battery last year. He says he boosted his monthly profit by 50% because he can make more trips on a single charge, and feels that these batteries have improved the health of the city because he no longer breathes the toxic fumes emitted by the lead-acid battery. Sher Seoul's ambitions go beyond that, as she wants to transform Bangladesh's entire energy sector through multiple threads.

In 2015, the company began building small peer-to-peer solar grids that allow households without solar panels to buy excess energy from others in the community using a portable top-up system. To date, it has installed 118 small grids across the country. The startup has raised $6 million so far.

The company also installs solar panel systems for homes and commercial buildings, and has 27 megawatts to install in the pipeline, Islam says, which an increase in solar power could help the country reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.