- The minibus taxi, currently undergoing testing, was converted from a fuel/diesel-powered taxi to an electric one.
- The project targets the provision of cheaper alternatives to new electric vehicles.
In a bid to promote green mobility, Stellenbosch University (SU), South Africa, has partnered with Rham Equipment to produce an electric-propelled minibus, the first electric taxi in South Africa. The minibus was converted from a petrol/diesel vehicle to an electric taxi.
The prototype, currently undergoing road safety and performance evaluation testing, can travel approximately 120km on a single charge with a top speed of 120 km/h (kilometre per hour). The South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) funded the project and was supported by Transport Services at SU, which donated a minibus for the conversion.
The Project lead of the Department of Industrial Engineering at SU, Prof Thinus Booysen, said that South Africa has about 250,000 minibuses, and over 70 per cent of the trips in the informal sector are by these minibuses. According to him, the university is eager to drive the reconstruction/reassembling of some of the minibuses in the country with electric power to provide cheaper and much more environmentally friendly alternatives to new electric vehicles.
“With this venture, we want to help build the skills that will be needed to manufacture electric vehicles locally and also create awareness about how much we could save with electric taxis,” Booysen explains.