Dr Sam Faleye, the Chief Executive Officer of SAGLEV, an electric vehicle manufacturing company, says that the demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Nigeria is currently oversubscribed.
Speaking to newsmen in an interview on Sunday in Lagos, Faleye said that as an EV manufacturing company, his company’s in-store sales capacity in a year was 2,400 cars.
He said that, however, even if its factory expanded to about 7,000 cars by working three shifts, they won’t still be able to meet the demand on ground.
He said that the transition towards electric vehicle adoption was unfolding due to unique challenges.
“The most efficient vehicles on sale today are proving expensive to run, given the cost of fuel and maintenance of fuel-powered vehicles.
-Advertisement-
“Presently, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are one of the most viable options, as they can alleviate the stress of queuing for fuel or purchasing it at exorbitant prices.
“It is time to ponder on the future of EVs in Africa’s most populous black nation and largest economy.
“Around the world, countries are moving from fuel-powered vehicles to electric vehicles which have been tagged the future of transport,” he said..
The manufacturer noted that reasons for the shift from fuel-powered cars to electric are not hard to point out.
He said that, asides from dramatic reduction in fuel costs, they are more efficient, environmentally-friendly and economical compared to their fuel and diesel-powered counterparts.
Faleye said that circumstances such as increase in price of fuel and diesel had allowed people to start shifting towards electric vehicles.
He noted that another reason for the gradual move was the amount of money spent on maintenance of cars powered by fuel.
Citing an example, he said that when petrol became expensive, 50 per cent of Uber (an e-hailing cab company) drivers had to stop their driving business because it was no longer sustainable.
“If these 50 per cent of young men and women who lost their means of livelihood were using electric vehicles, it would have solved the problem of buying fuel at a high price,” he said.
Faleye noted that the major struggles EVs faced in Nigerian market had to do with affordability.
He said that comparing EVs with cars that had internal combustion engines, electric vehicles are quite affordable and need less maintenance.
“When it comes to affordability, you will be surprised that our brand-new EVs, particularly the Uber models goes for N22 million to N23 million, when compared to a brand-new Toyota Corolla which is around N35 million to N40 million.
“The cost of maintenance of an electric vehicle versus an internal combustion engine vehicle is usually about 50 per cent less, because the electric vehicle does not have a carburetor, crankshaft and engine oil among others.
“It is just an electric motor and a battery. The parts they share in common are suspension, tyres, headlights, headlamps, shock absorbers, and brake pads.
“Also, because the EVs have less moving parts they hardly break down, hence saving cost of maintenance,” Faleye said.
On the issue of charging, which has been another major concern, the SAGLEV boss said that an EV does not need frequent charging.
He said that a fully charged car could travel for as long as 300 kilometres, adding that most EV users just needed to charge once a week.
Faleye also added that it only took four hours to fully charge an EV, noting that it would only cost about four thousand naira PHCN units even if the user was on Band A.
He added that the models that charged for more hours could travel for 450 to 500 kilometres.
“The worry of most Nigerians about charging is the availability of electricity and that can be solved with a generator.
“If you have a 12 KVA generator, you can charge as many EVs as you want.
“Also for Uber drivers, we are installing charging points. For instance, we are putting 50 charging points at Mega plaza and we will be putting at many other locations in Lagos as well,” he said.
Faleye also stressed that the EV manufacturing company was creating job opportunities, citing SAGLEV as an example, he said it had employed 18 certified EV technicians, who are available to do maintenance on the cars.
“We are planning to set up certified automotive shops with trained technicians, so that repairs can take place at any given point when an electric vehicles goes out of warranty.
“It’s necessary to note that EVs cannot just be taken to any roadside mechanic,” he said.
READ ALSO: Stakeholders at PIAFo Identify Obstacles to FG’s 90,000km Fibre Project
He added that it was also training more teachers who would in turn train more electric vehicle technicians.
On assembling, he said the EV parts were imported and assembled in Nigeria.
Speaking more on acceptability, the EV manufacturer said that, before now when petrol was cheap, a lot of Nigerians did not know the advantages of having an electric vehicle, adding that now that subsidy had been removed, they are becoming more aware.
On the issue of electric vehicles in heavy traffic, Faleye said the vehicles consumed less power, when stationary.
He added that EVs don’t emit gas like normal cars, hence they are more environment-friendly. (NAN)
We do everything possible to supply quality news and information to all our valuable readers day in, day out and we are committed to keep doing this.
Your kind donation will help our continuous research efforts.
-Advertisement-
-Want to get the news as it breaks?-
