What’s your take on the Renault Kwid?

Hi Bennett,

I would like to know more details about the Renault Kwid, the pros and cons of the car in general and the gearbox, which is a cause of worry. Thanks.

 Moses.

The Kwid was developed as a collaboration between Renault and Nissan in 2014, aimed at the Indian market, spurred by policy to curb excessive demand for two-wheelers which were plaguing their traffic and hospital casualty departments (ring a bell?) by making a four-wheeler that was affordable to lower-budget buyers. The Tata Nano had a similar objective.

The result was extraordinary (not for the first time in Renault’s long, innovative and illustrious history). They produced a fully functional, able and durable little car with a brand new showroom price below Sh300, 000, and not much more than that even with inflation and refinement. That’s what people pay for a ride-on lawnmower! And they progressively manufactured a high percentage of its parts locally – first in India, and then also Brazil. But they made one big mistake: it looked as good as conventional and much more expensive cars.

The result is that the Kwid has never been judged for what it is: a small and bog-basic motorised box on four wheels. Its good looks, inside and out, raised expectations to unrealistic levels, and while it became a best seller in its class for a few years, it has faced numerous performance/comfort/quality criticisms…because it was judged against vehicles it looked like, but which cost many times more.

The original Kwid has been discontinued, though it is likely to re-emerge with renewed prospects and an electric motor. There is an awful lot more right than wrong about it. It does what it is designed to do remarkably well. And at a price that is a mini miracle.

Is the conversion of all petrol and diesel-engine vehicles to electric certain?Is the conversion of all petrol and diesel-engine vehicles to electric certain?

Gavin,

Is the conversion of all petrol and diesel-engine vehicles to electric now certain? How soon should Kenyan motorists be thinking about switching to electric cars? If and when the time comes, will motoring be easier or harder? Will we save money or will it cost more? Will our mobility increase or reduce or stay the same?

SK.

Will it happen? Yes. The change is certain, the starting gun of international government and manufacturing policy has been fired, and progress is extraordinarily rapid. But it is a long journey.

By all means start thinking now, but imperative action is still many years ahead. Worldwide, there are more than one billion petrol and diesel vehicles on the roads and tens of millions more are still being made every year. Repurposing or replacement of everything that surrounds the manufacture and use of that number is a task of several decades…at least. Petrol and diesel vehicles will be in the minority, but are unlikely to become oddities or rarities before 2050. Any variation on that will depend on a crystal ball…or a thermometer.

Currently, electric and hybrid vehicles are achieving viability and manufacturers are building production capacity. Governments and manufacturers are setting deadlines for when they can produce enough EVs and HEVs to stop production of internal combustion engines. Progress towards that step-change moment has only just started, some, but not all, will get there in a decade. 

Electric and hybrid vehicles are already here in Kenya, in small numbers. Worldwide they now number many millions. In developed countries’ big cities, they can already be seen on every street.

The evolution of challenges and solutions is ongoing, but in almost every respect, the trajectory is good on the five core issues: Purchase Prices, Running Costs, Charging Times, Driving Range and, with more caveats, Material Supplies.

Purchase Prices: The price of EV’s and HEVs is expected to come down as production scales increase and more efficiencies are found. The experts predict price parity by 2030.

Running Costs: Currently, (with variations between markets) the cost of electricity per km is about half that of petrol and diesel. Given the global commitment to renewables and the options of nuclear, hydro, wind, solar and tidal generation, the future of that will depend more on tariff polices than production costs. Maintenance of electric engines is intrinsically simpler and cheaper than petrol/diesel engines. The exception is the cost of batteries, but current designs have a guarantee of approximately eight years, and science is knocking on the door of potentially huge improvement with concepts like solid-state.

Charging Times (plus convenience): Currently, a typical recharge requires about 15kWh (kilowatt hours). That means about seven hours plugged into a domestic supply of approximately 2kW, or less than one hour of the best commercial charging at 20kW. Overnight charging at home would be practical for owners with an off-street driveway, but hundreds of millions of vehicle owners around the world park in the street. Commercial “hub” charging bays/parks will certainly burgeon, but because even fast charging takes 10 times as long as “filling up” with liquid fuel, as a perspective there would need to be 10 times as many plugs as pumps (at a guess I would think Kenya has about 10,000 of those). This could be an incentive for Hybrids with petrol engines that charge the batteries, as well as…

Driving Range: Driving style and traffic rhythms affect “consumption” much more with electric motors than conventional engines, but current EV designs mostly target an average range of about 300 kms. A pending (some say imminent) revolution in battery technology could change that. Meanwhile, Hybrids look like a potential comfort zone in that respect, too.

Materials: Mainly for batteries and computer chips, EVs will transmogrify demand for some chemicals (e.g lithium) and the sources, availability, logistics and cost of that could produce a bumpy political ride. But then, crude oil is hardly a paragon of peace, past or present.

How do I convert my old Land Rover into an electric version?

Hi Gavin,

I was avid reader of your motoring articles back in the 90s. Then you disappeared. Welcome back. I also see your photo has changed. More mileage I believe. Give us more ideas on how to convert our old Land Rovers into electric versions.

Regards, Abdishakur.

Almost anything is possible…but probably not advisable. The cost and technical challenges of converting an old Land Rover to electric power will almost certainly outweigh the advantages (the cost will certainly exceed the value of the vehicle being converted…both before and after the change).

 When the end-of-time comes for petrol and diesel engines, there will be a broad range of purpose-built electric options, new and used, the price will have fallen and the technology will be far more advanced – especially batteries that will weigh less, cost less, charge faster and have longer range. They will be made of more sustainable materials and be recyclable.

 Sales of electric cars in the United States is already several times more than Kenya’s entire vehicle population. Important lessons are being learned by source materials suppliers, manufacturers, agents, service and parts players and end users. The guinea pigs in more affluent economies are hard at work. Our thanks to them.

In Kenya, the answer to current thorny questions about electric vehicles is “wait a bit”…for mitumba EVs.

PS: More mileage, definitely. Disappeared? Yes, for the first three months of this year. Otherwise, every week non-stop since January 1981(sic).

So, should I get a car that runs on diesel or one that runs on petrol?

Hi Gavin,

Thanks for the excellent explanation about the diesel and petrol engines in the 06/07/2022 column, however, the article did not clearly come up with the pros and cons. I hope you can add more about it.

Matthew M.

I did give a list of the different “characteristics” of each type of engine. Those are the generic facts, but which ones are benefits and which ones are drawbacks is the decision of individual buyers. Personal preferences will depend above all on what the vehicle is used for and which of the characteristics are more important to a particular user, as well as on the make, the model, the engine size, the age and the budget as well as the lifestyle.

If your balance (for whatever reasons) favours a petrol engine, but the vehicle you want is large, stand by for bigger fuel bills.

If your priorities indicate diesel, but the vehicle you want is not turbocharged, be prepared for relatively sluggish performance.

And so on.

Diagnosis for an automatic gearbox with hiccups

Hi Gavin,

What causes jerking of an automatic vehicle after engaging the gear lever at D (Drive)? Previously, this problem was occurring when R (Reverse) was engaged. The mechanic had advised that the gearbox be changed after which the problem was shifted from R to D position of the gear lever. One even suggested there could be a problem with the vehicle computer. It’s all guesswork. They are not sure. What is the solution?

Maingi.

Such defects and their causes vary quite starkly from make-to-make, however, the most likely problem is a blocked filter in the gearbox sump. The first solution is to drain the ATF (automatic transmission fluid) oil, remove the sump, clean the filter, and put fresh ATF. None of that will upset your bank manager.

If that does not solve the problem, the unlikely but possible problem would be the “clutches” (there are a dozen or more in automatic gearboxes) which are automatically engaged and disengaged by oil pressure. The hydraulic pipes to one or more clutches may be clogged. The longer a dysfunctional filter is allowed to continue, the more likely that problem will be. Remedy for that is a more elaborate gearbox overhaul.

Actually, “changing” the gearbox should be a last resort. If the replacement is brand new, it will be a very expensive way to remedy a possibly minor fault. If the replacement is old salvage, its condition is probably unknown. What has it been doing, why is it not still in the vehicle it came from? Unless the unit has been overhauled so thoroughly that the seller will give you a full written guarantee (not common practice hereabouts) you would be buying a discard and gambling good money on really bad odds.

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