With each passing year, electric vehicle adoption rates surge like a GMC Hummer EV launching forward in “Watts to Freedom” mode. There’s just one problem: that’s largely happening in developed and first-world places like the United States, Europe and China. What about the rest of the world’s vehicles, especially in places that need cleaner air the most?
Enter UK-based startup Helixx, which detailed plans this week to borrow the McDonald’s franchise model—yes, really—to make compact and utilitarian EVs for developing markets in the Asia-Pacific region, India, South America and North Africa.
And to top it off, the proposed EV designs actually look pretty cool:
Take all of this with the gallon of salt you’re used to swallowing when it comes to EV startup news, but Helixx has a clever idea that’s not far off what’s already done in many developing markets. According to Forbes, Helixx is seeking to produce four modular EVs called CARGO, TRUCK, TUK and RIDE for various delivery, hauling, taxi and ride-share businesses.
Each one is powered by a 2kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack, but they’re not only swappable (something mainstream EVs still can’t really do), more packs can be added for more range. The vehicles can take up to 12kWh in packs for a respectable 124-mile range, according to Autocar.
But the vehicles aren’t even the most interesting part. That would be how these things get made: not at some sprawling, expensive central factory, but in small regional factories operated under licensed partnerships called Helixx Mobility Hubs. That’s where the McDonald’s model comes in. Each one is like an independently-owned franchise that can reportedly be set up in just under six months.
The license holder agrees to the terms, sets up the factory, and cranks out EVs it then rents out to local businesses on a subscription basis. The factories are reportedly scalable, too, so they can expand rapidly if demand is there.
Here’s what Helixx’s CEO told Forbes:
“Looking at the McDonald’s methodology, we can now get customers to finance or part finance or scale for us,” explained Steve Pegg, Helixx co-founder and CEO in an interview. “This is where Helixx sits more as a technology company because we then become asset-light. We own the technology. We own the vehicle. We own the supply chain, just like McDonald’s. But we get customers to build the content at a volume that they’re comfortable with. So what we’ve also done is developed the system like a bit like an onion where you can start off with a small facility and just keep adding layers and layers and layers if the market demands are.”
Again, lots of EV startups have big dreams that don’t go anywhere, so we can save the official hype for when the rubber meets the road. But this actually makes a ton of sense and is close to some current methods of developing-world vehicle production.
First off, we already know EVs will generally need much less labor and parts to produce than conventional ICE vehicles. Helixx will need to source its batteries from somewhere, sure. But once it does that, in theory, these should be easy to produce since no engines are involved. (And clearly, these could run on vastly less sophisticated software than, say, a Mercedes EQS or something.)
Second, the idea reminds me of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits, which have long been used across the world to produce vehicles in new markets. Bus, heavy truck and industrial vehicle makers ship whole kits full of semi-finished parts to foreign partners and licensees, and they assemble the vehicles locally. This is how carmaking got its start in India and Iran; even Volkswagen did this for a long time with the O.G. Beetle. Again, this works more easily if the vehicle in question is relatively simple.
So what we have here is a CKD kit on steroids, but franchised out to produce different kinds of EVs for new markets. It’s very clever, and actually pretty feasible as an idea.
That’s if Helixx can pull it off, of course. Right now, Forbes reports, the company is trying to raise funds, but is in initial talks with possible partners in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It’s also working on various software-driven ways to guarantee quality and consistency across the fleet, if these cars get built. The company is also exploring recyclability options for when these vehicles reach the end of their useful lives.
So far, I actually really this idea a lot, and I think it’s only a matter of time before startups and established carmakers work toward something similar. Electrifying rural and developing nations is a major challenge, but some of these countries have among the worst air pollution in the world, leading to all sorts of health problems—not to mention, we can’t tackle climate change if only the rich countries get to have clean air. (There are also very obvious issues around charging in those countries, too.) But selling people giant American-style crossovers isn’t the answer for countries like Bangladesh, either.
This, however, could be one clever potential solution to this challenge. It would take a lot to get it off the ground, sure, but maybe not as much as you’d think.
looks like my ’06 scion xb upgraded to EV.
Truck, Tuk, and Ride was RIGHT THERE and they went with Helixx? SMH.
“First off, we already know EVs will generally need much less labor and parts to produce than conventional ICE vehicles“
Certainly not less parts, that’s completely wrong. Utterly incorrect.
It should be “fewer” parts.
But that’s wrong too. I’ve been lucky enough to to design engines for OEMs and also EV electric drive units and battery packs.
Engines are complex assemblies with dozens of parts twirling round and up and down. Count every fastener and valve collet as a separate part and you’ll get to something of the order of 400 parts in a standard 4-cylinder twin cam engine (and only a few more parts for a pushrod V8).
But that’s nothing compared to a battery pack. Hundreds of cells, each with connectors, clamps, coolant channels, wires and junk and that’s not even splitting the electrical black boxes in to separate components.
Electric drive units don’t exactly have one moving part either (I can’t describe the fury that the “one moving part” bullshit creates in my heart and fists) and the bearings will be full of balls because they don’t have a high pressure oil feed to get away with plain bearings. Balls are parts, ask a man. Some EVs have epicyclic gearboxes. Go have a look at an epicyclic gearbox, I’ll wait.
Some of them have an epicyclic gearbox per driven wheel. Torque vectoring is cool, but it nearly doubles your EDU part count.
EVs save some parts on fewer gear ratios and deleting the entire fuel and air systems, but fewer parts over all? Nope. Maybe a Changli does, but a real EV vs a real ICE? Burning stuff takes fewer parts.
Unless you count the battery pack as just one part, but that’s a game you can play with engine assemblies too.
Not that part count actually matters at all, not really even to the people building them, as long as the process is cheap. Moving parts are the ones you need to worry about because they will all wear out eventually, and an ICE will have dozens more of those than an EV. Dozens!
Nice ripoff of the Portuguese-built Datsun Sado.
https://ireland.apollo.olxcdn.com/v1/files/7qoh0m08p1u73-PT/image;s=4160×1920
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n6Oc04D7xSQ/T2d_WvCbiXI/AAAAAAAACe0/CipnAD26EJY/s1600/datsun%2Bsado%2Bmoita12.jpg
https://scontent.fopo6-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/13015511_1187324901332340_9037755769926710350_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=inya8APAHbgAX9Q5llk&_nc_oc=AQko0oeGKxOMb3gUplL4e0UdFWFeUW2S4WkI2AIgWTwPb6n_lBSBNBEurumfkop6_r5jcAHf1c0rKfRNMQEGXnUW&_nc_ht=scontent.fopo6-2.fna&oh=00_AfDD51sJmHovXqiVMUyudefa1b8bqE0Vd1pF1p3yeBK_XA&oe=644B49D5
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You had me until “subscription service.” Why exactly can’t you just sell people a vehicle so they can do whatever they want with it? This sounds like another attempt to bleed as much money as possible from already poor nations, and if that is the case, then I hope it goes nowhere.
I’m guessing that “license holder” should have read “licensee”, in which case the money stays in the local economy. I’m also guessing that subscription could be just one option, maybe more expensive over time than leasing or outright purchase, but more accessible for businesses with low capital or poor access to credit.
It remembers me the Citroën FAF (Facile à Financer, Facile à Fabriquer, or Easy to Finance, Easy to Build) of the 70s. It was a very simple vehicle, on a 2CV chassis with a Mehari inspired body, but in flat steel. They planned to sell small factories to developping countries so they could kick-off an automotive industry. It failed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_FAF
In theory, this should too, but I see one advantage : the supply of EVs is still scarce, so we won’t flood these countries which such used vehicles. So, if the governments want to engage in electrification, the Helixx could have some place. Still a big bet, as mass-produced chinese mini-trucks will probably prove more competitive even with import taxes.
for developing nations or for cheapo econobox EVs I think it only works if you take out the upfront cost of the batteries that are way out of reach for most, renting/leasing the battery or ideally a swapping ecosystem, so range shouldn’t be an issue and batteries could be even smaller to be hand swapped
I predict this will go nowhere. It has proven time and time again that cheap barebones BEVs with limited range don’t sell on any large scale. And I don’t think it will be different in this case.
Hell… just look at the Tata Nano that was more or less the ICE version of this.
And this weird-assed “franchise model” isn’t gonna help either. It just complicates something that should be simple.
It’s an intriguing idea. I hope they go with a modular battery pack that already exists like Gogoro’s rather than developing something proprietary.
Electricity in many (most?) third world countries can be quite spotty. Petrol has developed its own ad-hoc distribution network so a tuk-tuk driver can almost always find someone with a couple of gallons to sell.
You can’t transport electricity on the back of a motorbike. So ironically, third world EV adoption suffers from the same drawback as first world – unreliable and inconsistent charging infrastructure.
“You can’t transport electricity on the back of a motorbike.”
Yes you can:
Each one is powered by a 2kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack, but they’re not only swappable (something mainstream EVs still can’t really do), more packs can be added for more range. The vehicles can take up to 12kWh in packs for a respectable 124-mile range, according to Autocar.
Electricity in many (most?) third world countries can be quite spotty.
That’s true and that’s exactly where swappable battery vehicles shine. (Ideally) charging stations can top off their stock when power is available and have fully charged batteries for use even when the grid power is out. The EV batteries can also act as a battery bank for the home as long as its just lights and maybe a small energy efficient computer. Its better than nothing.
If the stations are big enough and/or have on site generation e.g. solar they can even buffer the local grid to make municipal power delivery more even.
Will the electric car go to the battery or will the battery go to the electric?
Mohammed wants to know?
But you can transport batteries a few at least to get to where youre going. I do agree a place that only has electricity 3 hours a day is not going to work. But i have seen shows in India and other places where they just make it work. Not a 3rd world but 2nd world country a meglomaniac leader who just orders it to happen could get it started but i fail to see an investor agreeing that they will buy the raw materials and batteries build a factory to build the cars that this company will own. I got trust issues. Also who has that kind of money? Warlords, dictators? Manuel isnt financing a franchise on his grubhub route.
What, exactly are electric cars supposed to do for India?
“Coal-based power generation….accounts for 76.59 per cent of the total power generation in the country [India]”
“NTPC, which supplies one-fourth of the electricity in the country, had earlier said that coal-based electricity generation is the backbone of power supply in the country and it is going to stay this way for the next two-three decades.”
Shhh. Don’t you know, EVs will solve the climate crisis on their own? No need to pay attention to the fact that persona transportation is so low on the sources of pollution yet is the first thing everyone mentions when they talk “green”
I think you are right. The informal nature of these economies will need to be accounted for. For instance, what will the right to repair rules be?
Sourcing electricity in developing nations is easy. All you need is an extension cord and the place to plug it in without getting noticed. /s
Also interesting from a tax perspective with the produced here vs. imported rules in many countries.
Honda in particular started a bunch of motorcycle assembly plants with the KND model and things grew from there.
Interesting that my comment is moderated…..since when did that start?
They had a lot of bots, so they tightened things up a while back. Money seems to be a big trigger for moderation.
To keep out spammers we have certain keywords and activities that trip the moderation alarm. We try to clear them out super fast.
Sign me up. Would drive.
There’s maybe over 100 countries where the annual salary is UNDER $10000.
I still don’t see how this will help any of them… I just see more waste trash and broken parts
“There’s maybe over 100 countries where the annual salary is UNDER $10000.
I still don’t see how this will help any of them… I just see more waste trash and broken parts”
How do they get by now? With ancient Peugeots, Toyotas and Mercedes? These EVs should be even cheaper than those were new. Where will the electricity come from? Probably from expired “waste trash” solar panels, wind and water turbines that can still generate power, just at a lower efficiency.
How are they going to afford waste trash solar panels? Wind and water turbines? Some countries max gpd is so low they couldn’t afford a single one. I get it, everyone is for electrification….but it’s not feasible….anyone can just a out distill oil into gas, so it’s readily available to a point. Don’t think anyone is carrying around extra battery packs and solar panels 100s of km from civilization.
the thing is, the people who could afford a peugeot, toyota or merc usually didn’t buy it new, it had already lived a full, long life in europe before it was sold for ~$1000 and exported to the country in question.
these things aren’t having the depreciation hit copped by wealthier europeans, not to mention these things are going to be all plastic, and built cheaply; they’re likely not going to last as long term even as a peugeot 504 with 300K kms already on it.
the only other market these would rival is things like tuk-tuks, but at that point you’re better off just sticking an electric motor in a tuk-tuk.