Columnists
EV Cars Not for Uganda – So Far
From the Outside Looking
The name; Elon Musk, must be getting familiar to most Ugandans now. He is one of the most famous inclusions in Donald John Trump’s Cabinet. Trump, the 47th President of the United States, created and gave him the portfolio of Secretary of DOGE (Not Dog) – the Department of Government Efficiency.
Billionaire Musk, now the richest man in the world, is also the maker of Tesla, one of the premier electric vehicles (EVs). Premier? Yes!
Not long ago, it was the Number One EV motor maker. Not any longer. Tesla has been overtaken by the Chinese BYD – the Build Your Dreams – model. It is made by Wang Chuangfu. And, most likely, not many here have heard of Wang or BYD.
That is because there are not many EV vehicles here. If any, at all, there are a few Hybrids; that is they use both electric batteries and fuel for power of movement. The EV technology is relatively new, being fostered by the attention to Climate Change. The point is that fuel-powered vehicles pollute the atmosphere with carbon dioxide fumes, affecting the environment, and in turn the health of human beings.
The other reason why the EV vehicles are not here is because of the cost. Tesla saloon cars are not less than $30,000; and the BYDs are not less than $10,000. And they are newly-made; and not reconditioned or second-hand vehicles. Here, the bulk of vehicles sold come in these latter categories and come as cheap as $2,000.
Ugandans, especially the rich, are used to and can afford the Japanese models that attest to the above specifications. There are many SUVs – Sport Utility Vehicle – here, also being used by the Government officials. The other category is the cabs that are for the taxis. These categories of vehicles are even more expensive in the EV makings.
An EV vehicle, as their naming notes, is run by electric batteries; and they are to be frequently charged after they have reached a certain distance. Tesla vehicles do not run for more than one hundred kilometers before they can be charged again. BYD has bettered that: they can go for as far as 250 kilometers.
And that is one of the reason BYD is a hot seller in China and South East Asia. Wang has concentrated on developing a battery that has the capacity to move the vehicles further than Tesla has developed.
So, for us here, to own an EV means that one cannot move beyond Mbale in the East and North, or Masindi in the West and North or Mpigi to the South. And that specifically affects the people who use the ever-present buses and taxis. That apart, there are no charging stations for the batteries.
The only visible charging station for the EV of Hybrid vehicles available so far is that one that has recently been built at the front of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals along Kampala Road; and obviously the capacity to handle many vehicles has to be low.
That being the case, it is going to take a considerable amount of time for the EVs to come to Uganda in the numbers that are currently seen from the reconditioned vehicles plying the roads countrywide.
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