Hyderabad's sustainable taxi service helps you earn good karma on the go

2019 didn’t give Greta Thunberg or any of us much to be feel good about, when it came to the deteriorating state of the environment. But the young activist might just have found a reason or two to smile with Hyderabad joining the cause of combating pollution with e-yAna, a sustainable taxi service that aims to reduce carbon footprint exponentially.

The fleet consisting of bikes and rickshaws went live on December 16 at 10am. The app-based service operates across the areas of Warangal and Karimnagar. The biggest takeaway of the sustainable taxi service is that the batteries of the vehicles used are solar-powered.

After each journey, the riders will receive a note on the CO2 savings from their ride. “Our customers will feel proud that they have helped the future generation by reducing air pollution by the end of each commute,” says Sandeep, managing director, e-yAna, which is a pioneer in solar energy. 

The company is also planning to set up portable charging stations across the city to make this service more efficient. 

e-yAna follows in the good karma established by Blu-Smart, India’s first all-electric sustainable taxi service which launched in Delhi-NCR in January 2019.

Although it started with a humble fleet of 70 electric cabs that promised to be ‘noiseless, affordable and eco-friendly’, today it has grown to 500 cars across Delhi and Mumbai. While the pricing might be marginally higher than a regular cab, its impact is priceless.

While we can now ride the final lap of 2019 in a sustainable fashion, things look bright for 2020, too. Major automobile companies , including Audi and Hyundai, are set to launch e-cars in the country.

Something to feel good about while you silently age in those mind-numbing jams next year.