Bennett Oghifo
The Delta State government may soon take the front seat in the move for Nigeria’s shift to e-mobility as it mulls the use of electric vehicles by Jet Systems Automobile Industry Ltd for mass transportation.
The state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori gave the hint on Thursday while playing host to a team from Jet Systems that paid him a visit to showcase the Jet Link and Jet Mover electric vehicles at the Government House, Asaba, the state capital.
The team was led by Chairman of Jet Systems, Chidi Ajaere, and its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Joseph Osanipin.
Governor Oborevwori, who took a drive in the vehicles, noted that it was a good alternative to petrol combustion engines, especially given the high cost of fuel, the low maintenance cost of the electric vehicle, and its eco-friendly nature.
He stated that the state government and Jet Systems Automobile Industry Ltd would enter into talks towards the possibility of deploying Jet Electric Vehicles in the state for mass transportation purposes.
The talks would also centre around the establishment of solar-powered charging stations on strategic highways within the state to facilitate the charging of the electric vehicles when deployed for operation, he added.
Complimenting the electric vehicles, Oborevwori noted that a team to be headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, would be put together to understudy the possibility of the state government helping transporters in the state acquire the eco-friendly electric vehicles for their operations.
“This is the first time I have the opportunity to drive electric vehicles and you can see that it’s smooth, noiseless and comfortable, and with the way the price of fuel is going up electric vehicles are better at this time because everybody is trying to move away from fuel to save cost.
“The Electric vehicles (E.V) are cheaper; the only thing is that we are still studying this model and we are coming out with our own decision very shortly, to know whether to go in that direction, especially with the present hike in petrol price.
“Everybody is trying to go in that direction. It will also be economical and the good thing about this is that I am putting together a team headed by the Secretary to the State Government, to understudy this and see if it is something the state can do to support the transporters and reduce cost of transportation,” he stated.
On his part, Ajaere said investing in electric vehicles was the way to go considering that the vehicles were eco-friendly and cheaper to manage, and did not have the maintenance issues associated with the petrol-powered vehicles or those running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
He said future-thinking mobility companies were investing in electric vehicles as the cost of transportation had become so high due to rising cost of fuel and maintenance.
Ajaere said: “The Federal Government is already taking the initiative of investing in electric vehicles. We have abundance of sun in Nigeria, so the idea for the Federal Government and the Delta State government is looking into building solar powered charging infrastructure.
“The two biggest cost drivers for transportation is cost of maintenance and cost of fueling but with electric vehicles you eliminate the cost of maintenance and the cost of petrol thereby reducing the cost of transportation by almost 80 percent.
“The life span of the battery is about eight to ten years and the bigger vehicles (Jet Mover) can do about 300km on a full charge; that’s like moving from Lagos to Ibadan and back to Lagos or from Asaba to Warri and back to Asaba.
“All we need is just the Federal Government building solar charging stations along the way for these vehicles when travelling a longer distance so that when the passengers come down to ease themselves like they usually do, you can plug in your car to charge for some time before continuing your journey.
“In the rainy season, the solar charging infrastructures will have batteries that would store power for these vehicles to charge on gloomy days like this.
“Those stations can also be attached to CNG powered lines to help charge vehicles during the rainy season”.
The Jet Motor Company was founded in 2018 to provide affordable and eco-friendly transportation options for Africa. It invests in the production of a wide-ranging variety of electric vehicles ranging from passenger to utilitarian vehicles— ambulances, military vehicles, and delivery vans.
Since its founding, the company has delivered fully electric cargo and passenger vehicles to different clients within Nigeria’s diverse market. Only last month, it supplied electric vehicles with their charging stations to the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) as part of an integrated plan to help the country transition to sustainable mobility on an accelerated timeline consistent with the country’s climate commitments, and especially following the removal of petrol subsidy.
