B:Live, a venture by Arcis Clean Energy, is the brainchild of Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee who wanted to bring about a new wave of sustainable mobility in India and they started with Goa. The company, in a short span of just three months, has managed to make an impact.Sometimes a region—in a bid to become a coveted tourist spot—gets caught in its own trap. Take the curious case of Goa—a state buckling under its own aspirations and losing its beauty in the process. Goa’s unique history and character is under threat due to unsustainable tourism practices. Vehicular congestion is adding to the rising levels of air pollution and the burgeoning number of tourists are leaving behind piles of garbage year after year.
What if, in this scenario, someone offers to help you see the true Goa—with its charming architecture and interesting antiquity—in an eco-friendly way?
B:Live, a venture by Arcis Clean Energy, is the brainchild of Samarth Kholkar and Sandeep Mukherjee who wanted to bring about a new wave of sustainable mobility in India and they started with Goa. The company, in a short span of just three months, has managed to make an impact.
Eureka moment
“The whole idea behind starting this company was to provide a clean, green way of discovering a new location or city,” said Sandeep, in a conversation with The Better India.
B:Live is India’s first electric-vehicle based tourism company, and they are now in a 20-year contract with the Government of Goa, to manage and operate electric vehicle tourism across the state.
Both the founders bring with them a corporate experience of 15 years and a friendship of that many years.
Samarth, who is from Goa, felt that the clean and green State he had grown up in was getting lost due to the burgeoning tourism leading to congestion and pollution. He realised that there was an urgent need to address the issue.“And that was when the idea of using electric vehicles to explore the unexplored side of Goa came to us,” says Sandeep.
Sandeep goes on to say, “I spent about four years in Europe and I was able to see first-hand, the kind of impact using e-vehicles made to the lives of people and the environment. It was this model that I was keen on replicating in India as well. Sustainable mobility was what excited me.”
What does B:Live do?
B:Live uses e-vehicles to conduct tours in, currently, four places in Goa. The vehicle is an electric bike and is just like a regular cycle, which you can ride on roads, streets, mountains, and beaches.The motor that is attached to the cycle gets activated as soon as one starts pedalling and the effort required is minimal, says Sandeep. “Whether it is a climb or a regular stretch, one can really just whizz through it. Given that this vehicle leaves behind minimal carbon footprint, it is also a guilt-free way of exploring.”
Source,Credit & Full story at :https://www.thebetterindia.com/172210/goa-electric-cycle-e-tech-green-tourism-secrets/