Sri Lanka’s transport sector remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels and accounts for approximately 28% of national greenhouse gas emissions. The country has around 1.18 million registered tuk-tuks, which provide essential urban mobility and livelihoods, yet the transition to electric tuk-tuks remains constrained by limited real-world evidence on emissions reductions, operating performance, driver economics, charging suitability and investment pathways.

The project aims to collect comparative operational data from up to 35 retrofitted e-tuks and 50 conventional petrol tuk-tuk comparator vehicles. It will combine GNSS/telematics data, vehicle emissions testing, fuel and electricity-use records, charging and maintenance data, and platform trip data where available. AI-supported analytics will be used to develop a sample-based Carbon Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) and decision-support framework and a prototype dashboard. The evidence will inform business and financing pathway recommendations, a preliminary carbon-finance opportunity assessment, and a draft national e-tuk transition roadmap aligned with Sri Lanka’s NDC 3.0 targets of 100,000 e-tuk conversions by 2030 and 500,000 by 2035.

The project aims to strengthen the evidence base and investment readiness for scaling up Sri Lanka’s national e-tuk transition by demonstrating a practical Carbon MRV and decision-support model. Through comparative data collection from up to 35 retrofitted e-tuks and 50 petrol tuk-tuk comparator vehicles, the project will generate credible evidence on emissions reductions, operating costs, charging needs and driver economics. The project is expected to directly engage tuk-tuk drivers and benefit government agencies, ride-hailing platforms, financial institutions, leasing companies and climate-finance actors through improved policy, financing and investment decisions for national e-mobility scale-up.

Sri Lanka’s transport sector is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and remains heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels. Three-wheelers play an important role in the country’s urban and peri-urban mobility system, with approximately 1.18 million registered tuk-tuks providing essential transport services as well as livelihoods for a large number of drivers and small operators. At the same time, Sri Lanka has set ambitious targets under its NDC 3.0, aiming to transition 100,000 tuk-tuks to electric vehicles by 2030 and 500,000 by 2035.

Existing pilot initiatives by development partners have generated valuable experience and practical insights into the deployment of electric tuk-tuks in Sri Lanka, creating a strong foundation for further scale-up. Building on this progress, there is now an opportunity to strengthen the evidence base on vehicle performance, emissions reductions, operating costs, charging requirements, driver economics and commercially viable financing models to support wider deployment.

To help enable this next stage, stronger data, analytical tools and financing pathways are needed to support informed decision-making by government, financiers and private-sector actors. This project responds to that need by generating practical operational evidence, strengthening carbon MRV approaches, and identifying investment and financing options that can contribute to a structured and scalable national e-tuk transition.

– Enhanced availability of evidence and tools to support Sri Lanka’s national e-tuk transition.

– Improved investment readiness through business modelling and financing pathway identification.

– Improved policy and investment decision-making through enhanced evidence on e-tuk performance and emissions reductions.