- As KWASU converts five fuel vehicles to electric, CNG compliant
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
The Vice Chancellor of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Professor Shaykh Luqman Jimoh,
has called on financial institutions and banks in the country to institute special funding to assist Nigerians in making conversion of their vehicles to either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or electric easier and affordable.
The Vice Chancellor made the call on Friday in Ilorin, the state capital, while briefing journalists on the successes recorded by KWASU in converting five vehicles from fuel usage to electric and CNG compliant, adding that a total sum of N854,000 was saved within seven weeks using an electric vehicle.
The KWASU boss suggested that the financial assistance by the banks could be in form of loans, adding that people who signify interest in the facility could then pay back gradually within a specific period.
He said: “For instance, we use this 14-seater electric bus for seven weeks to take staff from Ilorin to Malete campus of the university. We saved N840,000 that should have been spent on fuel. One would have saved at least 50% of conversion money within a year using the CNG or electric vehicles. The battery has a life span of about 10 years minimum.”
The Vice Chancellor, who said that
the university engineers had been able to convert four vehicles to electric compliant and one to CNG vehicle last year, added that the institution planned to open a site for conversion of vehicles.
He also said that the institution has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with two Chinese companies to supply conversion kits (branded with KWASU) in order to fully go commercial.
Shaykh Jimoh urged Nigerians to invest more in renewable energy as it is economical, saying that conversion saves the cost of buying fuel and reduces emission.
He also said that the nation’s universities are underfunded, adding that KWASU hoped to get more funds from the vehicle conversion project as another window to boost the KWASU’s Internally Generated Fund (IGR).
The Vice Chancellor said that the University has entered into partnership with the Kwara State Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology to convert vehicles, adding that 22 vehicles in the fleet of the state transport company, Kwara Express, would soon be converted to CNG vehicles.
Also speaking, one of the Engineers in the Electrical Engineering Department of KWASU, Abdulazeez Akande, said conversion to electric is more costly at about N1.5m or less, adding that conversion to CNG is less costly.
Leave a Reply