Electric buses expected to start running on African roads by end of year
Opibus electric bus during a test drive outside their warehouse in Nairobi on February 15, 2022. - The Kenyan-Swedish company was founded in 2017 and has been producing different electric vehicles including motorbikes and 4X4s used by safari companies.
What you need to know:
- Traditional urban transportation buses account for about 25 per cent of the total emission by the transportation sector in Africa.
- After a four-month pilot, Kenyan startup BasiGo has announced plans to introduce 20 electric buses by the close of 2022.
Hundreds of electric buses will hit African roads by the end of the year as different countries start to replace large public transport vehicles with internal combustion engines.
On the eve of 27th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, the host country is to roll out 70 electric buses to the tune of $17 million.
The North African country’s ministry of state for military production and the ministry of local development signed a joint agreement for the acquisition of the buses, christened Setibus, in July.
Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV), an Egyptian company, is producing the vehicles in the country ahead of their official rollout in the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh, where COP27 will be hosted between November 7-18.
“Work is in full swing for the climate conference, and there will be a fleet of electric and gas-powered buses and electric cars that will be operated during and after the climate conference,” Egypt Today quoted the country’s minister of local development Mahmoud Shaarawy as saying.
Research firm Mordor Intelligence said African countries have been helped by the rising number of startups and foreign car makers in the nascent industry.
“E-buses are becoming a commercially viable solution for public transport although it is still costlier [than] the diesel buses and in addition to that they have zero exhaust emissions,” said Mordor Intelligence in its Africa Electric Bus Market 2022-2027 report.
Traditional urban transportation buses account for about 25 per cent of the total emission by the transportation sector in Africa, with Mordor Intelligence projecting higher emissions on growing preference in public transport, seen adding 26,000 tonnes of carbon by 2030.
“Local governments, along with various other partners, are actively putting [together] their plan for the adoption of electric buses in the future,” said Mordor Intelligence in the report.
After a four-month pilot, Kenyan startup BasiGo has announced plans to introduce 20 electric buses by the close of 2022, increasing to 100 next year and reaching 1,000 units by 2030.
“They have been running 50,000 kilometres in total. We have proved the concept; the technology is able to work and survive in Kenya and Nairobi for now. Come 2025, our target to have 1,000 buses running in Kenya is possible. What we need is electric power and that is available,” said Samuel Kamunya, BasiGo head of business development, during the Kenya Power Expo 2022 in early July.
Charging stations
Kenya’s electricity producer KenGen in June began installing charging stations that will power the electric batteries of at least 50,000 buses and two million motorbikes.
“E-mobility is the fastest way for Kenya to make its energy transition like many other countries. It is also a key element in reducing pollution by promoting the use of vehicles that will reduce reliance on diesel and petrol,” said KenGen Managing Director Rebecca Miano.
Mr Kamunya said one reason electric vehicles will make sense in Kenya is that more than 90 per cent of power generated in the country is renewable.
Kenya has two active electric bus startups, BasiGo, which locally assembles buses made by Chinese firm BYD Auto, and Swedish-Kenyan electric vehicle firm Roam (formerly Opibus).
Roam was the first company to put its electric buses on the road, with a pilot programme that started in January, with plans to roll out commercially later.
“Following this, the platform will be tested at scale in commercial deployment of 10 buses during the second half of 2022,” said Roam project coordinator for public transport Dennis Wakaba in a statement.
In South Africa, Rheinmetall, a German-headquartered automotive and arms manufacturer, has begun phasing out 350 internal combustion vehicles with the introduction of electrically powered buses. E-bakkies, e-scooters and e-bikes also form part of the package to support green transport within and outside its plant.
A 12-month pilot study for two electric buses by Cape Town-based Golden Arrow Bus Services is also coming to a close, raising hopes for mass rollout by this large mass transit intra-city bus service company. The electric buses were manufactured by BYD and the pilot launched in July 2021.
Rwanda has also cast its eye on a shift to electric buses, with plans to roll out incentives to local manufacturers of vehicle parts and charging equipment.
