Will Electric Cars Win Over CNG Cars in Nigeria?

By Adrian Egonu

I have tried to shy away from this topic for some time now but it seems providence has a different plan.

So this evening while taking a walk in my estate a dispatch delivery bike waltzed past me and I realized three things immediately. It didn’t make a sound and it didn’t have an exhaust, then I saw the battery pack which then confirmed it to be an electric motorcycle.

From the immediate past administration to this current administration, there has been a heightened push for adopting CNG as a source of energy for automobiles in Nigeria. 

Many reasons have been adduced for this such as cleaner emissions and cheaper costs etc compared to petrol and diesel fuels. 

The two different administrations went about this in different ways with the former adopting CNG and other natural gases while the latter focused only on CNG.

Two departments were created for this purpose. In the previous administration, it was the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP). But under this current administration, it is the Presidential CNG Initiative or Presidential Initiative on CNG (PCNGi / Pi-CNG). 

Under both schemes humongous amounts of money running into several billions have been injected into the scheme in addition to a lot of other resources expended. 

But curiously, it appears that many Nigerians are privately adopting the electric vehicles (EVs) without much government input or support unlike what exists with the CNG (and  other natural gases). Though some are also going the CNG route.

A movement around many major cities in Nigeria have shown many of such EVs either being driven around or exhibited in car showrooms and exhibitions for potential buyers. 

Interestingly, the same applies for electric motorcycles and electric bicycles. For this category, the single location that has the highest numbers of electric motorcycles and cargo motorcycles appears to be the ASPAMDA market in the Tradefair Complex, along  Badagry Expressway, Lagos. There, there are lots of them zipping through the roads and in-between shops running one errand or carrying goods through passageways that cars or trucks cannot traverse. 

And from my experience this evening, it seems like some dispatch delivery companies have started using them in their fleet of motorcycles. 

A friend happens to know someone that even owns two Nissan Leaf electric vehicles. While another owns an electric Tesla Model S. 

There are many Tesla vehicles of different models in Nigeria including the somehow recently introduced Tesla Cybertruck. While many other brands and models also take their places on our roads 

Recently, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Ltd, Nnewi unofficially unveiled their indigenously produced electric vehicle. While another company Roxxette Motors, Abia State has also been thrilling people during inspections and test-drives with their new electric vehicles. Another company, Saglev Inc has set up a factory in Ikorodu, Lagos where they intend to  indigenously assemble their own brand of electric vehicles.

Speaking with Mr Victor Nwafor, he informed me that he had to acquire an electric bicycle to aid his commute and exercise over short distances especially as most of his cars are either 6 cylinders or 8 cylinders and the cost of fuel has now gone high for even high networth individuals like him. 

A review dropped online by Mrs Nneoma Okoro in Lagos, Nigeria, a customer of Roxxette Motors is full of praise for their product; “I’ve been driving my Roxettes Eco-Drive hybrid car for over a year now, and I’m impressed by its performance, fuel efficiency, and reduced carbon footprint. The team at Roxettes truly delivered on their promise of innovative and sustainable transportation solutions.”

Only time will tell which of the two alternative fuels; CNG or electric which will win this Nigerian government instigated battle. 

Which will you choose and why?