The transport sector has received a major boost after Zetech university came up with an electric powered tuk-tuk, presenting a significant step towards radically improving the sector and reducing carbon emissions.
Zetech University Lecturer Prof. Gitau Kamau said the engineless tuktuk runs on electric motors and has rechargeable batteries that could last for more than 100 km and that it also has solar panels integrated across its roof to harness solar energy which charges the batteries.
He said it is built like other tuktuks though it is faster with a speed of over 60 km/hr but it's priced slightly higher than the normal tuktuks at Sh450, 000. "We have assembled the tuktuk, put in electric motors and solar panels to recharge its batteries once they get drained. It is noiseless, cost effective and clean" said Prof Kamau during Zetech University's Research and Innovation week.
He said his motivation was to provide efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly transportation, reducing reliance on conventional fuels and minimising environmental impact. "The vehicle doesn't use fuel, thus reducing carbon emissions as well as making it cost effective during this time when the cost of fuel is high" he said.
However, the innovation is yet to be released into the market with Prof. Gitau decrying the high cost of e-mobility equipment used to assemble the vehicle as a major challenge in the mass production of the small vehicles.
To make it cheaper for the manufacture of the tuktuks, Prof. Gitau called on the government to come up with policies that support adoption of e-mobility and ensure elimination of excise duty on body parts including steel, batteries and other accessories. He also asked the government to set aside spaces in the Special Economic Zones for the assembly of body parts.
“The tuktuks are made of steel which is quite expensive. If only its cost and that of other accessories can be lowered, the mass production of the tuktuks can be cheaper and easier" the Professor said.
He also called on the County Governments to allow the TukTuks to park and operate freely within CBDs, saying they are not a nuisance and will bring a lot of benefits to the carbon credit trading. “E-mobility is the way to go and the government has been categorical that by 2027, most of the vehicles will be electric. In order to achieve this, there should be policies in place that support e- mobility" Prof. Gitau said.
Recently, former Investment, Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Maino said the country expects to have moved fully towards the use of electric buses by 2027 in line with the government’s agenda of transforming the transport sector through the reduction of carbon emissions to address the negative effects of climate change.
She said the Ministry has launched the Draft National Electric Mobility Policy that proposes the establishment of incentives meant to increase the uptake of electric vehicles including the reduction of excise duty on electric powered vehicles to 10 per cent as in the Finance Act 2023.
Other efforts, she said, were the revision of the Integrated National Transport Policy (2009) to accommodate electric vehicles and the requisite infrastructure as well as the development of an Automotive Policy to stimulate the assembly and manufacture of vehicles, with a specific focus on electric vehicles.