EVPLUGIN Emobility Solutions Launches Public EV Fast Charging Station Network In Kigali

There are a lot of exciting developments on Rwanda’s electric vehicle scene. On the micromobility side, GURARIDE, a green e-mobility public bike-share (PBS) transport system company, is scaling up operations in Rwanda. GURARIDE combines smart bikes, electric scooters, and electric bike-sharing in a single app to enable users to choose their ride preference, and it wants to take over the first and last mile transport industries across Africa.

On the EV assembly side, its sister company SAFI assembles electric motorcycles and scooters in Rwanda, employing hundreds across various components of the chain. Then there is the e-mobility ride-share company SAFIRIDE, as well as SAFI RUN on the logistics side, which is promoting green solutions for the delivery industry by using electric scooters and motorcycles on its delivery service. SAFI RUN’s offering includes a popular cooking gas delivery service.

Now SAFI UNIVERSAL LINK has unveiled its charging station infrastructure called EVPLUGIN, its first electric vehicle charging station in Kigali, Rwanda. EVPLUGIN is a public EV charging station solutions network company in Africa, with a focus on facilitating the migration from fossil fuel transportation to green electric mobility. The launch of the multipurpose charging station in Kacyiru comes at a time when the government of Rwanda has made commitment to invest $1 billion to convert 20% of vehicles to electric automobiles by 2030.

This is in line with the Rwanda government’s carbon neutral initiative. Rwanda aims to reduce emissions by 38% by 2030. “Rwanda has proven to be a leader when it comes to innovativeness and readiness to do business climate. It’s for these reasons that we have set base here and are ready to roll out such exciting and futuristic initiatives in e-mobility,” said Ike Erharbor, the President of EVPLUGIN.

EVPLUGIN launched this as part of its 360° approach to the electric automobile industry. Its mission is to lead the evolution of e-mobility by promoting green transport — zero carbon emission vehicles — by providing a reliable charging network across Africa. This will help address topical issues such as range anxiety. “We are committed to creating awareness on the importance of E-Mobility while providing user friendly and the best EV charging experience for everyone.”

The Kacyiru electric vehicle charging station is the first of 26 stations that will be rolled out across the country in the first phase of the project that ends in December. “We want to ensure that electric vehicle charging stations are available in every part of the country. We have started with Kigali, where we are rolling out another 19 stations soon then to be followed by Musanze and Gisenyi as phase 1 of the project,” said, Tony Adesina, the CEO of EVPLUGIN.

This new fast charging technology enables all electric vehicles to charge on the go. The recent government incentives on the E-mobility sector allows such technologies, like EVPLUGIN charging stations, to make charging relatively cheaper than fuel consumption. This enhances our bid to reduce fuel dependency and curb CO2 emissions. Rwanda has put in place an awesome new incentive to catalyze the adoption of electric vehicles. There are major incentives for charging station operators and importers of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) in Rwanda, including:

• Electricity tariffs for charging stations to be capped at the industrial tariff. This means that charge point operators will be billed at closer to USD 10 cents/kWh instead of 20 cents/kWh and above on the normal commercial tariffs.
• Charging station equipment will all be exempted from import and excise duties. All of these would also be treated as zero-rated VAT products and will also be exempt from withholding tax.

The Kacyiru EVPLUGIN charging station is the first ever multiple use electric vehicle charging station in the country. “Each station will have both car and motorcycle charging station, making it an all in one charging station component,” said Jerry Ndayishimiye, the marketing manager of EVPLUGIN. Rwanda’s new incentives also exempts electric vehicles, spare parts, and batteries from import and excise duties. All of these would also be treated as zero-rated VAT products and will also be exempt from withholding tax. The growth of EV charging infrastructure in Rwanda, coupled with the new fiscal incentives, will certainly help fast-track the adoption of electric vehicles in Rwanda.

All images courtesy of EVPLUGIN