VW Is Exploring Alternatives for Electrification in Africa’s Burgeoning 2-Wheeler Market

Two-wheelers are a giant deal in a variety of African international locations for varied functions together with for private mobility, as bike taxis, in addition to the rising demand within the final mile supply sector. The ride-share market in addition to the leisure and tourism sectors are additionally areas with potential in a variety of African international locations.

Some examples of markets with a variety of traction within the scooter phase for private mobility are Morocco and South Africa. In Morocco, there are over two million scooters that are used predominantly for private mobility. These are principally nonetheless inside combustion engine scooters. Nonetheless, corporations like E-Moto Morocco have been working arduous over the previous 4 years to boost consciousness on electrical scooters. In South Africa, scooters are fairly standard with college college students and early profession professionals.

In East, Central, and West Africa, the bigger bikes are a extremely huge deal, with estimates placing the present inhabitants at over 27 million ICE motorbikes registered throughout Africa, with round 80% of them used within the bike taxi trade. Many operators on this trade face rising prices and dwindling earnings as a consequence of excessive operational prices related to frequent oil modifications and upkeep companies for inside combustion engine motorbikes, in addition to the ever-increasing value of petrol. This has resulted in a variety of consideration being given to options for the electrification of the bike taxi trade on the continent. Estimate projections additionally say that 2-wheelers are anticipated to make as much as 57% of the full car inhabitants on the African continent by 2040. EV adoption is predicted to be a key driver for 2-wheeler development in Africa, coupled with decentralized renewable vitality technology from distributed photo voltaic, small hydro, and different renewables.

As a part of its “Electrify Africa Technique,” Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has began evaluating some electrical scooter merchandise from the Volkswagen Group to see which merchandise and markets to start out with, in addition to which enterprise fashions to pursue. One of many merchandise underneath evaluate and consideration is the SEAT Mo from an present subsidiary of the VW Group. The SEAT Mo is produced in partnership with Silence.

A number of the areas VWSA is exploring for pilot initiatives embody electrified rural hubs powering sustainable agriculture that can incorporate photo voltaic PV, electrical tractors, and electrical scooters. The primary pilot will probably be in Rwanda. The Memorandum of Understanding for this pilot was signed early this month and the undertaking is ready to be commissioned in mid-2024.

Zanele Mazibuko, VWSA Automobile Check Engineer, showcasing the specs of the SEAT Mo.

Here’s a abstract of the specs of the SEAT Mo:

Extra pilots are deliberate for electrical scooters in addition to kick scooters, focusing on ride-sharing, leisure and vacationer functions for vacationers and inns, in addition to rental corporations, for the broader native inhabitants in choose markets. As soon as these proofs of idea are confirmed, VWSA will then scale them up and replicate them in additional markets on the African continent. It’s actually good to see VW taking all these initiatives. The corporate has an total imaginative and prescient to develop its footprint throughout Africa, and electrical mobility is a part of this imaginative and prescient.

Photos courtesy of VWSA

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