Uganda makes electric car

The Ugandan scientist on Tuesday test drove the first electric car made in the East African country after three years of work. The head of the project, Tickodri Togboa, a professor of electrical and computing engineering at Makerere University, told Xinhua in an interview at the university that the two-seater car uses lithium iron specialized batteries that can run it for a distance of up to 80 km. The car dubbed KIIRA EV has 18 horse power and can run 60 km per hour. Togba said that if the car was to go on commercial production it would cost up to 15,000 U.S. dollars. "Once this car we have come up with is commercialized, then we will be reducing on pollution because this green car is being powered by a battery. When it takes off there is no noise, there is no gas. So it means we are addressing the environmental concerns," he said. He said the innovation is a clear demonstration that there is equal capacity in the country as in western countries to develop good technologies. "With this approach, we have been able to train high level graduates who should now be able to go anywhere in the world and be employed," he said. The official launch of the car is slated for later this month by the country's President Yoweri Museveni. The 25-member team that developed the KIIRA EV has now embarked on making of a 30-seater electric bus that will replace the petrol and diesel engines. He said the production of about 30 to 50 electric buses would solve what he called the current menace in the capital Kampala created diesel powered commuter taxis and buses. Although some components of the KIIRA EV like the steering wheel and other minor accessories were imported from manufacturers outside Uganda, most parts of the car including the core body and the electric system were designed and built locally with the assistance of local craftsmen. The KIIRA project is a run-up to Vision 200, a car made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which attracted the participation of Makerere University students in 2008. Inspired by the first project, the students and university decided to launch KIIRA project in 2009.