Stallion Motors, one of Nigeria’s auto assemblers and franchise of nine global brands, has said Nigeria’s first electric car, Hyundai–Kona, expected from its auto plant before the end of this year will cost N316 to fully charge.
The car which is expected to hit the market before the end of 2020, comes with five years of battery warranty and five years of vehicle warranty with a driving range of 482 kilometres and an acceleration of 0-100kms in 9.7 seconds.
According to Arpita Luthra, General Manager, Marketing, Stallion Group, the technology is a customer-friendly car that can easily be charged by plugging into an electrical socket at home or at work.
Luthra added that when Hyundai Kona goes on sale in Nigeria, its owner would incur only N316 to get a full charge, if the car is plugged onto public power supply.
“Not being dissuaded by the nation’s infrastructural challenges, one of our plans for this year is to introduce into the country Electric Vehicle (EV) and, in no distant future, embark on attitude change campaign for a clean environment in conjugation with Hyundai,” CEO of Stallion Group Anant Badjatya said.
Warning that climate change is for real, Badjatya explained that the changes in global temperature and weather patterns seen today are caused by human activities, concerned that they are happening much faster than the natural climate variations of the past.
The Stallion Motors initiative, it was learnt, is in recognition of the need to ensure that Nigeria becomes part of the global trend where industries are switching from internal combustion engines to sustainable means of doing business and adopting technology with less environmental impact.
However many experts have also raised concern about electric car business even as the Nigerian market is very much dominated by fuel-driven vehicles which have a grip over motorists.
Also, unlike other countries, the Nigerian government has not decided when it intends to switch to electric vehicles, further affecting the penetration of EVs within the country.
The last time the subject was raised at the Senate by the former lawmaker, Ben Bruce, the National Assembly kicked against it. Bruce had introduced the Electric Car bill in April last year which was basically seeking that the National Assembly approves the use of electric cars in Nigeria.
The bill aimed to phase out the use of petroleum and diesel vehicles by 2035, to be replaced by electric cars. The reason for the bill was to encourage the use of modern technology, de-emphasise on oil consumption and also reduce air pollution.
Source: Business Day
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