The Nigerian government through the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) on April 8, commissioned the first solar-powered Electric Vehicle (EV) charging station in Nigeria. It was commissioned at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto (UDUS) as the station is a collaborative project between NADDC and UDUS.
It happened just a few months after the debut of the Hyundai KONA Electric, the country’s first locally built electric vehicle. But there are usually speculations that this could kill the oil economy and tone down gas and oil business despite the project being 100% renewable energy.
Nigeria— perhaps, Africa at large should know that this is energy generation through energy use, and there are zero emissions and waste. In fact, it was unveiled that three Nigerian universities partnered with NADDC: UDUS, University of Lagos, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka. This for sure will give birth to more fascinating research and development projects as students will be able to comprehend vehicle electrification and other related renewable energy technology in order to build better solutions for Nigeria or entire Africa.
This project, without a doubt, indicates that Nigeria is advancing to the level of a European automobile industry. It is worthy to note that Europe, Asia, and other foreign countries are transitioning from producing gasoline-powered vehicles to solar-powered vehicles.
In fact, more car firms that previously only built gasoline-powered vehicles have turned their focus to producing electric automobiles for everyday usage, with Tesla leading the way. Electric cars revolution shouldn’t be seen as a way of competition but as innovation. There are a lot of climate and air quality reasons to be using electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles have a number of advantages over internal combustion engines, including reduced fuel consumption. Experts agree that the costs of maintaining an electric vehicle are significantly lower. They have fewer moving parts, use fewer fluids to maintain, and are kinder on brake systems.
The future is here; this is the cheetah generation— and innovations are unavoidable. Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly common, and as the technology supporting electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries improve, problems such as high costs, limited range, performance issues, long charge times, and a scarcity of charging stations would become less of an issue.
Automobile giants like Volvo have stated their intention to convert to electric-only production in the near future, and even luxury electric vehicles like Tesla are providing more affordable options to the consumer, changing the public perception of electric cars as something only the wealthy can afford.
Sooner than later, we will have little chance of not going solar or electric. The world is evolving, and unfolding; electric cars are only signifying preparation for future generations at the instance of humanity.
But as the drawbacks of any new technology melt away, the decision to go EV or not to go EV will become the easiest this generation has to make. High cost, limited range, performance concerns, long charge time, and a lack of charging stats would be sorted out as major issues raised by technology doubters.
After obtaining independence from British colonialists in 1960, Nigeria has relied significantly on crude oil, but the country’s Department of Petroleum Resources, has forecasted the country’s crude oil reserves of 37 billion barrels, of which 2% is produced yearly, will be drained in 49 years. This means there should now be rooms for solution-based innovations, and Nigeria or Africa at large should sit tight.
