Drivelectric Kenya’s Partnership With Food Delivery Firm Greenspoon Shows Why Electric Vans Are Perfect for Kenya

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The online shopping and on-demand delivery market has been growing steadily over the last couple of years. The industry recently got a huge boost and has been experiencing explosive growth since many nations have implemented a range of movement restrictions, ranging from issuing strong social distancing guidances to stay-at-home orders to full lockdowns. Although some economies are starting to open up, social distancing is still strongly advised.

The industry should keep some of this momentum going forward. The coronavirus-induced global economic slowdown will mostly likely result in businesses adopting a more cautious approach when it comes to spending. They will be looking to cut operational costs significantly. One area where savings can be unlocked is in the logistics and delivery space. Number-crunching fleet managers will be looking to save as much as they can in these difficult times.

Greenspoon, Kenya’s first artisan online food store, has partnered with Drivelectric, Kenya’s e-mobility solution provider, to electrify its fleet of delivery vehicles. Greenspoon is leasing the Nissan e-NV200, an all-electric van from Drivelectric which we covered late last year here. We recently looked at how electric cars are so much cheaper for daily communing in Kenya, and now we take a look at how an electric van compares to an ICE delivery van. Greenspoon has been using the electric van since November 2019.

The early data from this partnership is now available, and thanks to Francis Romano, Founder of Knights Energy & Driveelectric, as well as Felix Muchiri, Drivelectric’s Head of e-Mobility, we managed to have look at the electric van’s performance so far as compared with the ICE van.

Greenspoon also has an ICE Renault Kangoo for its deliveries. We compare the fuel and maintenance costs of the ICE and the EV van. The distance covered by Greenspoon’s drivers varies from day to day. On most days, the total driving distance is usually under 150 km, but sometimes the deliveries can go up to 200 km. These ranges are easily covered by the petrol-powered 1500 cc Renault Kangoo Van, as it has a range of about 400 km depending on the load and driving style. Greenspoon deploys the electric e-NV200 on its shorter routes.

Felix Muchiri says, “The e-van has two driving modes, normal and eco. On normal mode, the total available potential range estimate is 110km. On a full charge, the van has a rated range of 130km on eco mode. However, this estimate is usually optimistic and is in fact the potential range for an empty van. However, when loaded, the van’s potential available range drops to between 80–100km.”

The summary below, extracted from Drivelectric’s March 2020 Case Study, highlights the savings generated by switching to electric vans:

ICE Van Summary

The vehicle on average is driven about 105 km per day. However, there are busy days when it is driven over 200 km.

The average fuel economy 9.2l per 100 km (10.87 km/l)

Average cost of fuel in Kenya at the time KES 110.00 per l ($1.10)

Fuel cost per km KES 10.12 ($0.1)

Each service session costs around KES 15,000 ($150)

Service and maintenance costs per km KES 3.00. ($0.03)

Total costs per km KES 13.12. ($0.13/km)

Electric Van Summary

Average distance covered by the e-van daily was just over 50 km.

Average distance covered by the e-van on a monthly basis was 1508.22 km.

The average consumption/fuel economy during said period was 190Wh/km.

The average cost of electricity was 23.00 KES/kWh ($0.23/kWh)

The average cost per km was KES 5.04/km ($0.05/km)

Cost per KM (KES) Comparison
EV
Difference	8.08 ($0.08)

The summary above shows that switching to electric vans will save about 60% on fuel and maintenance costs. Switching to electric vehicles will also have a huge impact on Kenya’s CO2 emissions, as the transport sector currently accounts for 39 % of CO2 emissions in Kenya. It’s really good and also profitable for fleet operators to switch to all-electric vans and enjoy all those very clean electrons with 93% of Kenya’s electricity coming from renewable energy sources. Time for all those number-crunching fleet managers to seriously consider switching to electric vans.

Related Stories:

• Kenya’s Online Artisan Food Store GreenSpoon Adds Nissan e-NV200, 50% Of Deliveries Now Fulfilled By Electric Vehicle
• Drivelectric Kenya Shows Why You Should Be Driving An Electric Vehicle in Kenya!
• EV Conversions Go Mainstream in Kenya

Images courtesy Greenspoon, Driveelectric