How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an e-rickshaw?

Weigh the steel chassis and body, add the motor, controller, wiring and tyres, and multiply each by supplier figures. Add welding, painting and assembly energy, divide by vehicles built and count the battery pack as its own line.

Bought-in parts

• Steel tubes and sheet for chassis and body.
• Hub motor, controller and wiring harness.
• Tyres, seats, roof and glass.

Assembly

• Cutting, bending and welding.
• Pretreatment and paint booth.
• Final assembly and road testing.

Per vehicle

Report per vehicle with and without the battery, and name the battery chemistry, since lead acid and lithium packs differ a lot.

Worked example: e-rickshaw unit per vehicle (one month)

• Electricity: 20,000 kWh x 0.710 = 14,200 kg CO2
• LPG: 800 kg x 2.98 = 2,384 kg CO2
• E-rickshaws built: 400
• Plant total: 16,584 / 400 = 41.5 kg CO2 per vehicle
• Add steel, motor, battery and tyres for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

• Product carbon footprint calculator
• Battery pack assembly footprint
• Wiring harness footprint
• Electric motor footprint
• Automobile industry

Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.