The COVID-19 crisis has shown that effective public transport is vital to keeping cities running. By serving essential workers in health care, emergency services, food services, and other sectors, public transport has become a service not just for some people but for all urban residents.
Stellenbosch-based MellowVans seeks to help firms across the globe in this space in their quest to unlock operational efficiencies and cost savings by providing them with low cost and emission-free transport. MellowVans develops, manufactures, and leases electric three-wheeler cargo vans that appear to hit the sweet spot of the delivery vehicle market.
Namibian e-bike startup ebikes4africa has been on a steady growth path over the past 5 years. The business model rightly focused on customer segments characterized by a high utilization rate of vehicles. The startup targeted entrepreneurs in the food vending industry, pharmacies that regularly make delivery runs, and those entrepreneurs using bikes as taxis. They also found off takers in the wildlife protection industry and more prominently in the tourism industry where e-fatbike tours offer an eco-tourism experience.
Hybrid vehicles have come a long way since they went mainstream with the very successful Toyota Prius. Now in its fourth generation, featuring an 8.8 kWh battery, the Prius Prime/Plug-In Hybrid is good for an all-electric range of about 40 km.
Elon Musk’s announcement early last year that Tesla was going to close its stores and shift to all online sales was met with mixed reactions with most people being shocked to hear about the change.
According to the Motorcycle Assemblers Association of Kenya, there are currently about 600,000 commercial motorcycles in Kenya. Motorcycle taxis, known as Boda Bodas, are extremely popular, as commuters use them to whiz through Nairobi’s infamous traffic. Boba Bobas are also widely used in Kenya’s coastal resort towns, like Malindi, Watamu, Kilifi, Diani, the city of Mombasa, Rift Valley towns like Nakuru, and the inland port city Kisumu in Western Kenya.
The increase in CDP A-list cities from 43 in 2018 to 105 in 2019 is encouraging. More climate action is being taken globally at more levels of government than ever before.
The battery storage market in South Africa is expected to grow significantly going forward as companies and homes look to cushion themselves from ongoing electricity blackouts. Eskom, the stated-owned utility company, has been battling to keep the lights on during peak demand hours. Electricity blackouts are expected for at least another 18 months according to some reports.
Slowly but surely, we are getting there. We recently shared Kenyan startup GreenSpoon’s move to embrace electric delivery vans and ABInBev’s South African Breweries’ addition of the Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter to its fleet. Well, now, on our travels to Botswana, we came across MyFoodness, which has been using electric scooters on its delivery routes since 2018.
Asian American, African American, and Latino residents in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region are exposed to substantially more air pollution from cars, trucks, and buses than other demographic groups.
