The federal government says it will collaborate with the private sector to make Electric Vehicles (EVs) available and affordable for Nigerians.

The director general of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu, said this in Abuja while addressing newsmen on the sidelines of the validation workshop of the draft national action plan for the development of EVs in Nigeria. 

The workshop, organised on Tuesday by the council, has as its theme “positioning Nigeria among the leading countries in vehicle electrification”.

According to Mr Aliyu, buying an EV entails paying more when initially purchasing the vehicle, but the total cost of ownership is much less.

He said, “this is because one is dealing with a machine that does not need those things that could typically go wrong in a traditional petrol or diesel engine.

“No engine oil change, piston, plugs, crankshaft, and all those things that can typically go wrong in a traditional petrol or diesel engine are absent in an EV.

“So, the total cost of ownership, the total amount of money that you spend over the lifetime of the vehicle, is much less.”

According to Mr Aliyu, the council is using the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) 2023 and this specific EV policy to push forward a vehicle financing scheme.

He said, “with this, Nigerians could put down just a little bit of the cost of an EV, drive it off to their homes, and pay up within five to six years.

“We believe this will tremendously help towards the attainability of such vehicles.

”And then we are also working with both manufacturers within and outside to introduce and produce EVs that are cheaper.

“So, as we move forward, we will work both with the private sector and other government agencies to bring down the cost of EVs.”

Mr Aliyu said the main objective of the policy is to put forward both physical and non-physical incentives to promote the production and introduction of EVs in Nigeria.

He said it also ensured the action plan that enabled the development of these vehicles in the country was implemented.

On the charging infrastructure for the EVs, Mr Aliyu said NADDC developed 300 per cent solar-powered EV charging stations in some Nigerian universities to aid technology transfer.

He said they were built at the University of Lagos, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, with the fourth one in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, which had a fast charger.

Mr Aliyu said: “We are collaborating with more universities to set up more charging infrastructure, and that is purely on the government side.

“Already, there are private sectors that have set up charging stations, and we have been working with them, supporting them to set up charging infrastructure.

“If everything goes according to plan and if we get the necessary approvals, before the end of the year, we will be able to see these charging stations pop up across the country.

“Making it easy to own these electric vehicles, at the same time, expedites the production of these types of vehicles in the country.”

(NAN)