An electric vehicle is a vehicle that is driven by an electric motor which draws its current either from storage batteries or from overhead cables.
One of the major requirements is constant power supply as vehicles will be charged at public charging stations across the country. These stations can be quite expensive and need to be installed at regular intervals. The time needed could vary and this could see an increase in congestion at these charging stations. Nigerians purchase a lot of fairly used cars and would find it difficult to switch to the more expensive electric vehicles even though cost of running them is more affordable than that with internal combustion engines.
Proper infrastructure needs to put in place to avoid cars running out in transit. The first requirement is that a fully charged vehicle must be able to reach another station. Second factor to be considered is to determine the average number of electric cars in the area around a charging station to determine demand
As countries in the world plan the switch to only electric vehicles, Nigerian government is investing heavily in discovering new oil deposits instead of focusing on ways to create constant power supply to expand the economy. The world is changing, and some European countries have decided to stop manufacturing cars with internal combustion engines in the nearest future and we hope Nigeria doesn’t become a dumping ground as we have not made significant improvement in the condition of the power supply in the country.
Reports indicates that oil demand will drop by over 7 million barrels by year 2040. China is aiming to be producing only electric vehicles by 2040 to help reduce air pollution
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas with better infrastructure, investment and government policies has taken electric vehicles as a long-term threat. Nigeria is yet to see it as such.
What will Nigeria do when demand for oil drops in the coming decades? Where will the majority of Nigerians plug their cars overnight if power is not steady? What preparations are being made for this transition?
The truth is that we are far from ready and are not ready for electric vehicles. We need to focus on having steady power supply and improving infrastructure, so we would not be left out of development as the world changes gear to reducing carbon footprint.
