Rwanda electric vehicles market may not be going as planned because of the rugged and rural terrain. Rwanda is called the land of thousand hills and is not the ideal place for electric vehicles as it is tough on any car but is particularly tough for the heavy batteries.
The president of the country however has plans of transforming economy of the country. A major plan of the country is to cut the greenhouse emission of gas and reduce the dependence on the imported fossil fuels that currently accounts for more than 40% of the foreign exchange spending of the country.
The government right now has been launching a huge range of incentives for encouraging the electric vehicles. The electric vehicles and their spare parts, charging station and batteries are exempted now from import duties, excise and VAT.
Also read : Battery electric vehicles vs hybrid electric vehicles debate. – (evworldnews.com)
While the electric vehicles may be charged at the subsidized electricity tariff, the government is also handing out the rent-free land for charging bays. Volkswagen from Germany was among the first beneficiaries of the strategies of the government. It launched Rwanda’s e-golf model in the year 2019. The pilot project started with four of the cars and two stations in Kigali
The plan originally for VW was for the expansion of the service to 15 charging stations and 50 cars as a part of the cab-related app which is known as Move.
Though, in actuality, three years later just 20 of the cars that they committed are on the road and they have been removed from Move completely. Instead, these are used for carrying customers from many high-end hotels, international airports or the convention center.
VW however has been optimistic still and it is going to be a factor in how the country’s growth in the coming years in terms of electric vehicles.