Kenya Power is eying extra revenues by rolling out electric vehicle charging points, even as it seeks to eliminate difficulties in owning the new-tech cars in Kenya.
On Tuesday, Kenya Power managing director Bernard Ngugi said that the electric car charging points would be put along major highways, parking lots and malls, beginning with Nairobi.
“As part of our implementation plan, we are developing appropriate infrastructure and building internal capacity to enable us to support the use of electric vehicles across the value chain. To this end, we plan to set up charging facilities across the country beginning with Nairobi to support direct charging of vehicles,” said Ngugi.
Currently, there are only three electric car charging points in the country owned by Nopea Ride, a taxi-hailing app. The charging points are in Two Rivers Mall, the Hub Karen and Thika Road Mall.
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The drive by Kenya Power could take long to break even, owing to the high cost of procuring electric car, estimated at Ksh6 million.
Also, Kenya Power could face competition from Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), which also recently announced it is investing in electric car charging system.
It takes around one hour to fully charge an average electric car, which can go for up to 250 kilometres before the next recharge.
Kenya Power in partnership with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) yesterday unveiled a pilot electric bikes project in Kenya.
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Kenya Power will receive 50 e-bikes donated by Shenzhen Shenling Car Company Limited for its meter readers that will be used to test the usage of the motorcycle in Kenya.
“Kenya is importing more motorcycles than cars, doubling its fleet every 7-8 years. These are generally inefficient and poorly maintained polluting motorcycles. Shifting to electric bikes in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and elsewhere will reduce costs, air pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, as well as create jobs,” said Joyce Msuya, UNEP Deputy Executive Director.
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