Electric future awaits Africa, is the continent ready?

A new dawn is beckoning in the automotive industry.

Leading vehicle manufacturing nations in Europe have decided to forego diesel and petrol engines for electric ones.

This will be the single biggest technological leap since the introduction of the internal combustion engine by Nikolaus Otto in 1876.

The French and German governments have voted to ban diesel and petrol-powered vehicles in 10 years.

To ensure this happens, Germany is offering subsidies valued at €1.2 billion (Sh50 billion) to manufacturers on a first-come-first served basis.

NORWAY

Consumers will in turn receive a subsidy of €4,000 (Sh500,000) when buying an electric vehicle until 2020. 

Paris aims to outlaw diesel cars from the city starting from 2024.

While the sale of electric cars is still low, this is expected to change rapidly over the next decade.

Some countries like Norway have done extremely well with 32.5 per cent of cars on the road being either Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) or Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).

In December, Norwegians put 42 per cent of the country’s electric vehicles on the road, thanks to charging infrastructure and tax incentives.

They intend to phase petrol and diesel vehicles by 2025.

SALES IN EUROPE

For decades, fuel has dominated the market. Over that time, however, parallel advances have also been made in alternative power solutions.

The question is: How prepared are African consumers for the disruption that is electric and autonomous vehicles?

Despite the sharp minds in the continent and several white papers, intelligent mobility is yet to become an area of focus.

However, Africa is fortunate enough to have a blank canvas on which to craft a better future that will open up the continent’s vast potential.

According to EV Volumes, a global data source dedicated to electric vehicles, China leads in the sale of electric and hybrid plug-ins. It sold 1.3 million cars in 2017 and this is expected to grow this year.

Europe sold 943,700, followed by the United States with 764,700 units.

TOYOTA

Toyota and the Nissan-Renault alliance have been manufacturing fuel-efficient engines for a long time.

Toyota introduced the first hybrid car in 1997 and has continued to improve the technology.

Next month, the company will launch the most economical 2.0 petrol engine ever.

The Nissan/Renault/Mitsubishi Alliance leads in the all-electric plug-in car sales with the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe.

Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV was Europe’s third top selling model in 2017.

HYBRID VEHICLES

On March 18, the new award-winning 2018 Zoe hits the showrooms in Europe and this means we could see used models on Kenyan roads next year.

With more than three million vehicles on Kenyan roads, the country needs solutions fast.

And with 80 per cent of these vehicles being pre-owned, Kenyans can expect an increase of hybrid and plug-in electric cars every year.

How will we adopt and sustain these advanced and more efficient vehicles?

Is the private sector and government prepared for this inevitable and positive development? Can we muster the political will to plan adequately?

The list of advantages of adapting is long; from the environment and safety to cost-effective and efficient perspectives.

TECHNOLOGY

According to Mr Dennis Awori, Chairman of Toyota Tsusho East Africa, these developments will change the way we commute and live.

In the same way we embraced Uber, the taxi-hailing service, we must adopt ways of interacting with vehicles.

The car of the future will be a shared mobile working space. Vehicles shall speak to one another as well as to infrastructure in a quest to be safer, faster and more adaptable.

Mr Dinesh Kotecha, CEO of Simba Corporation, the dealers for Mitsubishi, Mahindra, Renault and BMW, says he is optimistic Kenya will step up to the plate.

He believes the disruption will require a strategic shift and huge financial investment.

According to Mr Kotecha, Kenyans must recognise that there might be possible “dumping” of combustion engine vehicles from developed countries.

ENERGY

The country therefore needs to take appropriate steps to respond to this.

According to Mr Awori, the best approach would be to involve regional governments and not restrict these initiatives to specific countries.

Smart vehicles should be able to transit up and down the continent seamlessly.

Mr Awori and Mr Kotecha believe the major areas of focus on should be energy, infrastructure and knowledge.

However, Mr Kotecha adds that Kenya needs to review its projected energy generation of 23,000MW, as projected by Vision 2030, and determine if this will be sufficient to support future mobility needs besides powering homes, factories, electric trains as well as cable cars.

ECONOMY

Overall the new technology will bring down the cost of travel and increase individual efficiency while also improving the productivity of Africans living in towns.

Mr Awori says the average vehicle has more than 35,000 parts but an electric vehicle has in the region of 10,000.

This, he says, will drastically reduce the cost of ownership despite of the initial high price tag.

Mr Kotecha believes Kenya will also need to re-evaluate its road network to increase connectivity.

This will require high-level engagement between industry players and the government.

Smart vehicles will need a smart environment to transport smart people to smart homes efficiently.

As self-driving vehicles become more common, road crashes are expected to become a thing of the past.

The conventional driving school as we know it will become irrelevant. Is the Kenya’s infrastructure ready for this disruption?

Mr Mwai is an automotive consultant and director at the Luxury Network Kenya. [email protected]