By Tony Adibe
The Roxettes Eco-Drives Ltd has said it would launch Electric Vehicle (EV) cars on roads in Nigeria, Africa and entire globe, while employing 320 direct workers at a start.
Chief Executive Officer of the company, Arc. Dr. Kaycee Orji told newsmen in Enugu on Thursday that the EV cars, which will come from the first indigenous EV company, would be rolled out in the country before the end of 2023.
Orji noted that the EV assembly plant, which would be situated in Enugu, would also employ 800 indirect workers to act as suppliers and providers of other day-to-day services for the people working at the assembly plant.
According to him, we are working on the assembly lines getting into Nigeria in a matter of months; before going into vehicle furniture production, and currently doing research on batteries and tyres. He said that the company had been recognised and issued with license by the Federal Government to commence full manufacturing and assembling of Electric, Gasoline, LPG, CNG and Hybrid vehicles in Nigeria, adding: “We are starting with the EV assembly plant first”.
Orji, who is a leading industrialist in the country, said that the company’s brand of vehicles would be known as Roxettes Motors, which unique logo would be unveiled within a few weeks. “Roxettes Motors is set to become Nigeria and Africa’s Tesla equivalent with the full deployment of technology in the production process and possibly compete with Tesla EVs as soon as possible,” he said.
He said that the recent move was a response to the global push for an eco-friendly vehicle especially aligning with Nigeria being a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and cutting down carbon emission nationwide.
“Roxettes Eco-Drives Limited will be involved in the production of cars (compact and subcompact cars, midsize sedans, SUVs, Buses, large Trucks, and luxury cars), for a wide range of clientele not only in Nigeria but all across Africa and globally.
“Our mission is to run a highly successful business entity that is known to assembly and manufacture durable and affordable automobiles for both the rich and the general populace. We want to be listed amongst the top 10 car brands globally. Roxettes Motors brand of Electric Vehicles (EV) will be tough, affordable, comfortable and will come with high milage and a minimum of four years warranty on the batteries.
“No fuel, no noise, no routine servicing as it comes with no Engines. This will go down in history as the safest brands of vehicles in Nigeria that can drive between 5 to 25 days on full charge without plugging back to charging source. Our EVs will come with wall mounted DC Chargers that will take about 4-5 hours to get a full charge at home. However, floor mounted DC fast chargers take between 45-50 minutes to get a full charge,” he assured.
Dr Orji said that the company had critically examined and analyzed its chances in the industry based on the location of the business and of course the wide range of cars that it would be rolling out from the car assembling plant.
The interest in driving EV cars in Nigeria and Roxettes Motors emergence attests to the fact that the Nigerian economy is matured to welcome the new global trend, according to Dr. Orji.
The industrialist said: “It is true that some people may argue the workability and success of EV in Nigeria due to the glaring epileptic nature of electricity supply in the country, but this has been sorted out” by the fact that this brand of vehicles takes a few hours to get a full charge. Since it will run for weeks before coming back to the charging spot, it has actually answered many questions. Some everyday users might just have to charge it only 20 times in a year,” Orji, who is also the Chairman of K.KH Group, said.
Dr. Orji, who is also the Chairman of K.KH Group, said that the EV cars or vehicles would help Nigerians forget the experience the nightmares associated with fuel scarcity as they would no longer be visiting filling stations but have charging stations at home.
“They would have no business worrying about the challenges of combustion engines and the health challenges that come with the emitted carbon. With the EV cars there would be no more worries with engaging the services of unskilled motor mechanics as we will set up charging stations and vehicle maintenance outlets across Nigeria,” he said.
