Kenya needs national strategy on move to electric vehicles
By MUNGAI KIHANYA
The Sunday Nation
Nairobi,
10 April 2022
Human civilisation
started with the stone age some 10,000 to 100,000 years ago. This was
followed by the bronze age around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Then came
the iron age running from about 5,000 to the present day. Yes; some
still consider this to be the iron age!
But I beg to differ.
I think human civilisation has transitioned into the electricity age.
This transition started around the end of the 19th century –
about 120 years ago. Think about it: nearly all our tools are driven by
electricity, and the few that are not electric driven are made in a
factory that runs on electricity. Electricity permeates through all
human activities. If it disappeared, we would be thrown back to the
bronze age at an instant!
I am therefore not
surprised by the move to transform motor vehicles from running on fuel
to electricity. Even though the world still generates most of its
electricity (60 per cent) by burning fossil fuels, there are concerted
efforts to change to cleaner and sustainable sources.
Some countries have
tipped the balance and are generating vast proportions from renewable
sources. In Kenya, for example, over 90 per cent our the electricity
comes from geothermal, hydro, wind and solar generators. Thus, it is
good to see small steps being taken to shift our transport to electric
vehicles.
The shift started in
2018 when Nopea the taxi company launched with 30 fully electric cars.
It now operates about 40 vehicles in Nairobi. Then, last month, BasiGo
launched fully electric buses in the city in partnership with two
leading PSV operators – Citi Hoppa and East Shuttle.
The greatest
motivator for electric vehicles is the efficiency of motors. Petrol and
diesel engines are shamefully inefficient. The best among them convert
only about one-third of the energy in the fuel into motion. The rest
goes to waste mainly as heat. In other words, about two out of every
three litres of the petrol you put in your car goes to just heating up
the engine!
Electric motors are
far much better: they convert about 85 to 95 per cent of the electrical
energy into motion. So, in a country like Kenya where less than 10 per
cent of the electricity comes from oil-based sources, there is urgent
need for a government policy to encourage the use of electric vehicles.
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