Tinubu approves e-vehicles for intra-state transportation in north-east ‘to reduce cost’

President Bola Tinubu has approved the use of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) in the north-east region to enhance mobility and reduce transportation cost.

Mohammed Alkali, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC), announced the approval while briefing the State House Correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday after a meeting with Tinubu.

Alkali said the commission carried out an analysis of the compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles (e-vehicles) and realised that e-vehicles are better suited for the region.

He added that the decision was influenced by plans to create modular solar power units across states that would provide a standby power source for the e-vehicles.

Alkali noted that the e-vehicle fleet comprises e-buses designed for intra-state movements with a minimum capacity of 40 people per trip, e-taxis that will transport three people, including the driver, and modified tricycles enhanced to carry eight people, including the driver.

He said the commission prioritised local content and ensured that the vehicle bodies can be fabricated locally in the north-east or other regions.

“We are here today to brief Mr President on one very critical activity he has approved which we had to engage in the last two months,” Alkali said.

“As you can recall, there’s a directive from the President that cars as soon as possible should use CNG or electric vehicles, and we at the Northeast Development Commission did a thorough analysis of our region, because we cover six states in northeast region, and looked at the comparable advantage between CNG and e-vehicles.

“After our thorough analysis, we came to the conclusion that for the Northeast region, yes, the CNG could work, but e-vehicle can work better for many reasons.

“One is that our plan at end of day is to create modular solar power units across the state which can be used to power this percentage of e-vehicles.

“On that note, earlier on, we sought and got approval of the Presidency for us to go ahead and come up with the framework of how we are going to deploy this e-mobility in the northeast and what kind of e-mobility, etc, and Mr. President graciously gave approval, and today we came to present to him the kind of e-vehicles we are going to introduce in the Northeast.

“There are three categories. One is the e-busses, which can carry about 40 people or passengers at a given point in time, at the minimum, and that’s it for intrastate, not interstate.

“And also we brought some sample of e-taxis which normally will carry three people passengers as well as the driver, and we also brought in a highly modified tricycle.

“Most of the tricycle we have in the North East or elsewhere only carry three people plus the driver four, but in our case, we have modified it to carry eight people plus the driver, and it’s fully covered and very convenient, and we are also, knowing the kind of weight and people we are going to carry, we’ve asked our engineers to modify the physical structure of the tricycle.

“When you look at it, you can see the tires are bigger, the prime is bigger, and so and so forth.

“Also, in doing that, we also considered local content that the body can be fabricated locally in the north-east or somewhere else in the region.

“So, today we made a presentation to the president. And delightfully, the chairman is here and Mr. President approved that we should go ahead and deploy the e-mobility in the northeast in region.”

Speaking on the potential of the project for the north-east, Alkali said the commission has developed comprehensive master plans that covers 11 pillars that will fully activate action plan for the initiative.

He added that the commission will engage stakeholders, especially the road transport workers to integrate their concerns and opinions before the final stage of activating the e-vehicles.