Electrification of minibus taxis in the shadow of load shedding and energy scarcity

Abstract

Electrification is expected to decarbonise transportation and forms part of the agenda to delay climate change. Electric vehicle sales have ballooned and production of combustion engines will stop soon. In sub-Saharan Africa the transition is slow. Minibus taxis carry more than 70% of commuters and little is known about their electrification requirements. Electrical demand planning is better with vehicle-based data than with passenger-based data. Stationary times provide ample time for taxis to recharge from the grid and solar, but the latter requires substantial stationary battery capacity to negate grid-impacting fast charging. Taxi energy requirements are approximately 200 kWh/day on average. Electric vehicles are heralded as a silver bullet to globally decarbonise the fuel-guzzling transport sector. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated in 2014 that the transport sector generated 23% of the global energy-related greenhouse emissions. The development of low-carbon transport in cities is part of the global agenda to delay climate change 2 and relates to three of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals 3 . Meanwhile, electric vehicle sales have increased substantially in the Global North and many global vehicle manufacturers plan to stop production of combustion engines as early as 2030.