It’s very interesting to see Uganda, one of the low developed countries coming up with an amazing innovation of Electric buses known as Kayoola EVS electric buses These have been manufactured by Ugandan engineers of Kira Motors Co-operation(KMC). Upon realizing the potential that this company has, the government signed a memorandum of understanding termed as the National Enterprise Co-operation(NEC) that gave KMC a go-ahead to manufacture these first-ever electric buses in Africa.
The unique features of the bus:
300km distance coverage when fully charged
The bus can move up to 300km when fully charged. This is a big distance coverage without any delayed interruptions that are involved in recharging the bus batteries.
Carrying capacity of up to 90 passengers
The bus has a huge carrying capacity of up to 90 passengers where 45 sit comfortably and the other 45 travel while standing in the bus. This will surely reduce traffic congestion in the city and the rest of the busy places in the country. Uganda has few roads and many people own private cars and the current taxis have been carrying a small capacity of only 14 passengers.
Special seats and a ramp
People with disabilities such as the lame persons are well catered for, as these buses have ramps which facilitate the easy onboarding of the lame persons.
Automated hand sanitizing technology.
The buses have been designed with automated hand sanitizers that can help people in overcoming Covid-19 through the washing of their hands. These are fixed at the entrance of the bus.
Low costs of recharging the batteries that is 380ugx vs 1600 ugx diesel.
The costs involved in recharging the batteries of the bus are very low as opposed to those that use diesel. Every kilometer coverage costs 380 Ugx whereas the diesel buses consume diesel cost of 1600ugx to cover up the 1 km.
Internet Wifi and USB powered-outlets
These have a well-installed internet Wifi connection whereby in case a passenger has run out of data connection for his phone, he can freely utilize the internet wifi of the bus. When your phone runs out of battery, you can as well charge it using the USB powered outlets on the bus.
comes with a warranty and there is No need for minor repairs
The bus comes with a warranty. The owner of the bus does not need to keep spending lots of money on repairing the minor bus faults.
high return of investment for the owners.
These are going to yield a high return of investments for the bus owners as they use low-cost electricity to recharge the batteries hence helping the owner to maximize profits.
However, the challenging side of these buses are;
They take longer to be recharged.
They take 2 hours to be fully recharged (0%-100%) before they get back on the road. This is time-consuming and brings about delays in the business
Low production capacity
There are very few buses and the production capacity of the company is still very low. The Company seeks to increase the number of buses by committing its self to the production of 8 buses per month. Since the government provided KMC with 100 acres of land that is through the Uganda Investment Authority, it will use this effectively to increase its level of production.
Check out the video below:
Find out more about Kiira Motors
http://www.kiiramotors.com/