ABUJA (CU)_On Tuesday, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo participated in the opening ceremony of the five-day Made-in-Nigeria fair in the capital city of Abuja. The event, organised by the inter-ministerial committee on Nigeria@60, featured several locally manufactured products, including technological developments and innovations.
As part of the event, Vice President Osinbajo test-drove the country’s first ever locally-assembled electric car Hyundai Kona. He was accompanied by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Jelani Aliyu.
Speaking shortly after the ride, Vice President Osinbajo said it was “a very good drive. Fantastic! It just shows what is possible. I am glad to see that this is an assembled-in-Nigeria electric car.” “You can literally charge it anywhere,” he added. “I think it is a very fantastic innovation, fantastic product, and I can tell because I drove it.”
The vehicle, which was launched into the Nigerian market late last year, is 100 per cent electric with zero carbon emissions. It can go up to 482 km on a single battery cycle which has a capacity of 64 KWH. Kona’s ability to be charged at home or work for 9.35 hours for a full battery is an attractive feature, particularly owing to the limited availability of EV charging stations in Nigeria.
KONA Electric has attracted attention from across the globe for its fast-charging capability, class-leading driving range and its safety and convenience features. The EV comes with some attractive safety features including multiple safety airbags and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), which uses the vehicle’s front camera to detect an imminent collision, thereby avoiding impact and minimising damage. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Kona was awarded the highest safety rating of 5 stars by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States.
