GMW Taskman, a Three-Wheeled Electric Delivery Vehicle to Debut in LA
The rise of delivery services in many parts of the world is due primarily to the Covid-19 pandemic. As more employees choose to work from home in the new normal, they will continue to use the online market for their shopping activities.
And with it, various companies are providing the means to make delivery services more accessible, fast, and reliable.
GMW Taskman
A startup, Biliti Electric, received a US$400 million investment from GEM Global Yield of Luxembourg. With the investment, Biliti Electric created the GMW Taskman, an electric delivery vehicle on three wheels, which will debut on November 17 at the AutoMobility LA, the largest car-buying and EV market in the United States.
The company, managed by Rahul Gayam, is an offshoot of Gayam Motor Works, which brothers Raja and Rahul Gayam set up. They launched their first electric three-wheeled vehicles in 2015 and sold their products in over 15 countries. The model that they will bring to the United States is the GMW Taskman.
Three-wheeled vehicle
The GMW Taskman is a single-seater rickshaw-type electric vehicle. It will be available in different configurations. According to reports, the model to be launched in LA will carry a payload of 680 kg or 1,500 lb, run for 177 km (110 miles) for every 3.5-hour charge. Its max speed is about 48 km/hr or 30 mph. Biliti adds their SmartSwapp system, a modular battery swapping feature to the model to help drivers get back on the road in under one minute. However, this will only be possible if there is a SmartSwapp station along the way. The companion mobile app installed on a driver’s smartphone can locate the nearest hub to swap batteries.
The delivery vehicle does not have doors in front, making it easy for the driver to quickly get in and out of the car. Instead, it has a solid roof and a full windshield to give couriers protection against the elements. Taskman has scooter-sized wheels, and the front fender holds the headlight, which follows the road as the front wheel turns.
The company’s trademarked SmartSwapp system is one of the highlighted features of GMW Taskman. It is the first time that a three-wheeled delivery vehicle has this feature. It is a big help in commercial last-mile delivery. The delivery vehicles are connected to the cloud via their mobile app, helping them track the availability of the nearest battery-swapping station in real-time.
They can install a fully charged battery on their vehicle, wait about a minute, and they are ready to go once again. It increases the couriers’ productivity and allows them to fulfill orders in suburbs and inner cities without worrying about charging facilities and being out of vehicle range.
Globally, Taskman vehicles already delivered about 12 million packages. Many online commerce companies in Africa, India, UAE, Japan, EU, UK, and the U.S. already ground-tested Taskman. Companies such as Zomato, BigBasket (Tata), SokoWatch, IKEA, Walmart (Flipkart), and Amazon already use Taskman in their global branches.
The price for the U.S. model is not yet available. However, the model used in the Portuguese market sells for €9,990, which converts to around 11,500 in U.S. dollars.