One of the players in the automotive industry in the country, Mike Appel and Gatto, has revealed plans to venture into the supply of electronic vehicles (EVs) before the end of the year.
The revelation was made recently by representatives of the company during the unveiling ceremony of the JAC T8 double cabin in Blantyre.
In an interview, the company’s sales manager, Lawrence Likoswe, said the company is in the process of putting up supporting infrastructure for the EVs.
“We started research on these vehicles back in 2014 and there are a number of issues because we’re bringing vehicles as well as bags. The issues we are trying to finalise now are about the charging systems and are workshops for such vehicles. But we’ll begin with trucks and then we go into smaller cars later. We intend to start sales before the end of the year,” Likoswe said.
The country has registered growing demand for EVs with recent revelations indicating that the only vendor in the market, Sky Energy Africa, was processing orders for 10 vehicles valued at $29,500 each.
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This means that once the deals are complete, the market could roll out with transactions adding up to $295,000.
In an earlier interview, founder and managing director of Sky Energy Africa, Schizzo Thomson, declined to disclose further details of the orders saying an appropriate announcement will be made at the right time.
He, however, was quick to hail government for acknowledging and turning the focus towards EVs as announced by President Lazarus Chakwera in his recent State of the Nation Address (Sona).
“We are grateful to the World Bank for swiftly stepping in to support the Malawi Government in piloting e-mobility solutions, demonstrating their commitment to our shared vision of sustainable transportation,” Thomson said.
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Delivering the Sona, Chakwera disclosed that government will conduct feasibility studies, develop regulations and put up policies before transitioning to electric vehicles and electric buses.
He further indicated that the Word Bank has given Malawi about $300,000 as seed money for the exercise.
“It is no secret that the world has already begun transitioning to more sustainable electric vehicles, and it would be a lapse in vision for us not to tap into such innovations. For this reason, we are diligently preparing policies for a conducive environment for electric vehicles.
“With necessary tax waivers to incentivise motorists to make the transition from fuel-driven motor cycles in the same vein, an investor has also been identified to bring 50,000 electric motorbikes that will not only create jobs for our youths but that will also generate wealth through the accruement of carbon credits. That is progress, and we will build on it to keep our recovery going,” Chakwera said.
