Nigeria is the first African country to come up with an Energy Transition Plan (ETP). It is predicted that this trend will likely be adopted by other African countries as one of the focus areas of Nigeria’s Energy Transition plan is the to attain emission reductions in the transport sector via Electric Vehicles (EVs) and increase mobility access.
One major problem shared by most African countries is limited access to mobility resources. Providing solutions to this problem has necessitated a serious look at rural mobility to see how new technology and innovation may be of use to alleviate the situation.
Where Rural Mobility Comes In
As several communities in Africa remain underdeveloped, of the many factors with the potential to improve rural economies, mobility could be the thread that holds rural regions together and promotes the survival and expansion of these economies.
However, it is frequently overlooked when major sectors and governments design growth strategies that may support rural economies. Access to essential services, occupations, and social activities is also hampered in rural and distant communities by the lack of reliable transportation choices. An effective ETP would necessitate substantial atrophy or existence of a working mobility system. This allows for an upgrade vis transition of energy options as it were.
Several entities are creating unique approaches to provide economically feasible, affordable, inclusive, and sustainable mobility to these communities. This is being done to curtail the inefficiencies of private and traditional public transit in these areas. There are excellent chances for ideas on rural mobility to flourish in these settings rather than catch up to the technologies tested in metropolitan regions. This will call for an integration or development of culturally acceptable mobility technology in these communities.
Nevertheless, there are numerous major logistical issues associated with delivering best-practice mobility solutions to rural communities. Micro-mobility solutions, for instance, are frequently too far apart to be used as separate modalities.
Demand is usually believed to be insufficient for traditionally shared transportation, such as bus lines, to be feasible or financially sustainable. Despite these challenges, rural mobility is ripe for innovation, when micro-mobility becomes the focus.
There is a unique opportunity to provide these areas with solutions that are tailored to their immediate needs. For example, introducing shared mobility and electric mobility gives these areas the opportunity to not only foster emission reduction in travel but also an opportunity to save on fuel costs.
The most viable options for many rural African communities are electric vehicles that are two and three-wheelers. This is based on their road networks for sustainable, inclusive, and intelligent mobility on a local level. Rural towns may begin to leverage non-existent gasoline expenditures and maintenance fees into additional income with a regulated network of electric two and three-wheelers. This is part of the reason MAX has focused heavily on bringing new age two and three-wheeler vehicles into rural communities.
The MAX E M3 and the T1 represent MAX’s use of on-the-ground insight to innovate. From a standpoint of knowledge, and direct control of the design process and technology, MAX facilitates production for the unique requirements of these rural locations.
In terms of African countries meeting up with the specified core areas of the ETP especially with rural mobility as a faucet to drive the transition, MAX’s model could serve as a template.
