People in Cardiff may soon be able to order an electric rickshaw to get around the city in the same way they would book an Uber taxi.
Taxi-hailing firm Ola has asked Cardiff council for permission to operate private hire electric rickshaws.
Ola, a rival to Uber, wants to offer the rickshaws as an option for general use through its booking app, rather than for pre-planned routes such as sightseeing tours.
The Ola rickshaws, known as Zbees, would carry a maximum of two passengers and only operate from Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, Lloyd George Avenue and throughout the city centre up to City Hall.
Ola would operate 20 of its Zbees in Cardiff during a pilot scheme. The Zbees, which would all have seatbelts, would take one hour to charge, and once fully charged would run for an average of 30 miles.
Cardiff council's Public Protection Committee will decide whether to allow Ola's electric rickshaws at a meeting on July 23.
The compact design of rickshaws makes them unable to comply with many of the council's private hire vehicle licensing conditions - including knee space and lack of doors, a council report says.
But the committee approved a licence to a company wanting to run tuk-tuk tours in Cardiff last July.
Rickshaws and tuk-tuks have been licensed for private hire in Manchester, Blackpool, Brighton, Derby, Chester and Ipswich. But Bath and North East Somerset Council refused a similar application in October 2016 due to safety concerns.
A report to the committee says: "Rickshaws have far fewer safety features than standard cars. They can be fitted with seat belts and strengthened overhead and side-impact protection, but they offer very little protection to the driver/passenger(s) in the event of a collision.
"They also do not have windows, and the open compartment design poses a greater risk of objects entering the rickshaw and potentially causing injury, or passengers being thrown from the vehicle or injuring limbs etc during a collision."
Ola has told the council the Zbees have undergone extensive road safety testing and would create no noise or carbon emissions. They would be able to fit three people, including the driver, and a suitcase.
The Indian company says Zbees are a "quick and fun" way of travelling around city centres suffering from congestion.
Ola, which would hire 30 drivers to drive the Zbees, says the e-rickshaws would be "fully weatherproof" and be brand new from the manufacturer.
