Biliti Electric Puts Heavy Payload Ability Into Electric Urban Mobility - CEO Rahul Gayam

Biliti Electric Inc. is paving the way for affordable electric vehicles with heavy payloads. Rahul Gayam, Chief Executive Officer, talked to Auto Futures and revealed the advantages of electric three-wheeled vehicles and the company's plans for the future.

In 2021, at the LA Auto Show, Biliti showed the GWM Taskman battery electric three-wheeler. It is now deployed in Japan, the US, the UK, France, Portugal, Germany, Lebanon, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai and India. In April, the company announced plans for a factory in India's Telangana state.

In July, it announced the hydrogen fuel-cell-powered three-wheeler, named Fastmile.

A Name That Reflects its Mission

"We named the company Biliti because it is a play on firstly, mobility, but also affordability and sustainability. All the rest of the expansions of 'ility" are positive. So that is why we just named it Biliti with an ability to do great things," says Gayam.

"Whether it be in the form of mobility like electric vehicles, electric hydrogen hybrids or energy storage for homes or businesses-- our vision is to make sustainable energy affordable and accessible to everyone. Our immediate mission is to electrify last-mile goods and people movement," he adds.

Biliti made sales to its first customers in the US. with vehicles in pilots or deployed in Miami, New York and New Jersey. Customers are using Biliti vehicles to deliver groceries in dense urban areas, says Gayam.

The Biliti GWM Taskman vehicles are three-wheeled electric vehicles with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour and depending on where they are - classified as a motorcycle in some states or mopeds. A car driver's license is sufficient to drive a Taskman.

The Perfect Urban Solution

"Taskman vehicles are perfect for the niche of urban last-mile delivery," says Gayam.

Current US Biliti customers are using urban 'dark stores' or micro-hubs in the cities for faster, shorter-distance deliveries.

He notes that customers expect faster delivery times and one to two deliveries on next-day delivery.

"Instead of having a huge warehouse at the edge of the city. It is making much more economical sense for them to have a few dark stores within the city, especially in downtown areas. Then a smaller vehicle can manoeuvre and park more easily. It is electric but you don't need any special equipment to charge it. It can be charged in any 110-outlet. So, there is no investment involved in charging." 

Electric Cost Savings

In parts of the world where there are no electrical outlets or expensive electricity, Biliti offers a solar canopy to charge the vehicles. The batteries are swappable without waiting for a charge. Most customers order an extra set of batteries, he says.

The lithium-ion batteries are designed by Biliti and will not ignite. The battery construction and the materials are made so that even in the event of a failure - there is no resulting runaway. So, they are safer to be used, even in indoor environments, he explains.

"The main advantage our customers see is they save a lot of money using Biliti Taskmans. For example, if they have to rent a van to do the deliveries, it costs them a lot more, sometimes three to four times more than if they use our vehicle for the same purpose. There are significant cost savings for them." 

Small Vehicles with Big Payloads

The footprint of a Taskman is small, but the volume and weight it can carry are almost the same as the big FedEx vans because in FedEx vans the driver has to get inside the vehicle and have access to the cargo.

"What our customers discover they are able to carry as much payload, packages, weight and as many packages as the big vans, such as the Mercedes Sprinter, Ram Promaster or large Ford commercial vans," says Gayam.

The entire Taskman cargo box area is accessible through a sliding side door or rear door. The Taskman is controlled by a handlebar and throttle. The handlebar can be locked while the battery is deactivated from the app.

"It is like driving three-wheeled scooters or motorbikes. It is pretty easy and safe to learn to drive these vehicles. It will probably take 15 minutes to just get the hang of it." 

He says the Taskman vehicle can drive on most terrains, even on unpaved roads but not in deep snow. There is an available rain cover to protect the driver from the rain.

What is the Future of Biliti Electric?

The Fastmile hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is similar in size and design to the Taskman with a 120-mile range without the weight of the batteries.

"Our Fastmile vehicles use much less hydrogen than other hydrogen vehicles because they are much lighter. We are thinking of how best to serve potential customers to the hydrogen ecosystem, whether we can set up a small refuelling station right at the hub.” 

The vehicles will be supplied from the Biliti factory is in India.

"With this type of vehicle, the ecosystem for sourcing parts and the vendors is much easier in India, because India is a huge market for these kinds of vehicles. We get good quality parts for these three-wheeled vehicles from India, that is the main reason and we have a supply chain," says Gayam, "To ship the vehicles all over the world all the parts are completely disassembled and then shipped because it saves a lot of space."

The next vehicle in the works from Biliti is a light commercial vehicle.

He suggests: "The light commercial vehicle could be limited to a low-speed vehicle or it could also be unlocked to be driven at highway speeds as well. So, we're working on such a concept. It could be a four-wheeled commercial vehicle depending on the customer requirements for delivery use cases. It would probably be similar to small vans like the Nissan e-NV200 or Ford Transit Connect."