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Safa Tempo - Three Wheeler Electric Vehicle

SAFA is a Nepali word for clean. SAFA tempos are the first electric vehicles in Kathmandu. It was brought to Nepal in 1996. Currently there are more than 600 SAFA tempos in Kathmandu valley alone. Around 120,000 passengers benefit from the service provided by the SAFA tempo in 17 different routes within the city, on a daily basis.

Five manufacturers :
- Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry (NEVI) 
- Electric Vehicle Company (EVCO) 
- Green Electric Vehicle (GREV), 
- Green Valley and 
- Bagmati Electricals. 
Thirty Seven Charging Stations and Several hundreds of vehicle owners.

Advantages of EV:
- Zero emission thus less pollution
- Low noise level
- Short distances & low speed – thus appropriate for Kathmandu where streets are narrow, traffic speed is low and travel distances are short
- Promotes the use of clean energy (hydro-electricity) thus reduces the use of fossil fuel.
- Uses off peak hour electricity since battery are charged during nights.

Technical Aspects of EV:
The driving component of an EV is a DC motor with variable speed and power. In SAFA tempo twelve deep cycle batteries each being a 6V (total 72V) is used to provide the traction power to the vehicle. An electronic controller is used to govern the regime based on which the DC motor operates at variable speed and variable power. The components of the EV are imported and assembled here in Nepal. The main body part and the chassis are imported from India whereas the electronic components are imported from US. The parts that are imported from US are:
- battery
- converter
- motor
- controller
- fuel gauge
- connector contact
- carbon brush etc.

The chassis of the SAFA can withstand the weight of 12 people along with one set of batteries. The gross weight of SAFA tempo is 1000kg. Two sets of batteries are required for the commercial operation of EVs. A battery charging and exchange stations is also required along the route.


(Modeled in SketchUp 2015)
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