Amidst rising cost of fuel, Kwara State is set to be flooded with 5,000 commercial electric tricycle to ease transportation problem in the state.
The plan was disclosed on Friday at the stakeholders’ meeting held on Electric Tricycles Acquisition Scheme in Ilorin, the state capital.
The Director General of the EV Mass Transit Solutions, James Clinton, said 5,000 of the electric tricycles would be made available to the state.
Clinton, however, said the project will start with 500 of the tricycles as a pilot scheme in Ilorin, the state capital, before it would be extended to other parts of the state.
Clinton who described the programme as first of its kind in Nigeria by his organization, disclosed that it would fully take off in the state by December.
He praised the state government for facilitating locations for swap cabinets where rundown batteries will be easily swapped with the charged one.
Clinton who said the tricycles use neither fuel nor oil, explained that the battery when fully charged can last a trip of 80 kilometers.
He added that the tricycle is a 7-seater passenger vehicle with a driver.
While disclosing that the vehicles will be given out to the purchaser with payment of purchase price on installment basis, Clinton said 10 percent of the purchase price would first be paid after which the balance would be required to be paid between 30 and 36 months.
He said that manufacturers of the tricycles would be available in the state with spare parts of the vehicles for repair purposes.
The chairman of Kwara State chapter of Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Saliu Giddado assured the EV Mass Transit Solutions and other stakeholders, that they would all recover the money they may invest on the scheme.
He also urged his members who may be beneficiaries of the scheme not to default in the refund of the purchase price.
(Leadership)
