Uganda To Test Its First Electric Car

Sci-Tech — 01 November 2011

Uganda’s Makerere University students will Tuesday afternoon test drive their first electric car that has been three years in the making.

The Kiira EV made by the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology students is the first electric vehicle to be made in Uganda.

Team Leader Paul Musasizi said the project was a clear demonstration of existence innovation and skill at the Makerere University.

The vehicle is a two-seater with a theoretical speed of 200 kilometres per hour and a practical speed of 150 km per hour due to its light weight.

It can be charged after running for 80km.

“When we started the project we wanted to demonstrate that Uganda has as good talent as that in the US or German and now that this is over we expect and want it to be taken up,” Musasizi said.

“We named it Kiira EV because we are fascinated about green energy and the first electricity generation in Uganda was at Kiira,” he said.

Kiira is a lake town to the east of Kampala that hosts a hydropower dam.

It remains to be seen if the success of this vehicle can be translated into actual production but Musasizi in an interview said that their innovation demonstrates the faculty’s commitment to green transport.