Kiira EV car production to start in ‘three to four years’

KAMPALA – Prof. Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa, the minister of State for Higher Education, Science and Technology has said the commercial production of the Kiira EV vehicles will start in “three to four” years’ time.

The engineering scientist, who is also the principal investigator of the electric vehicle project, says an assembly plant will need $400m.
“Because of the market constraints, we will start with the internal combustion engine vehicles, but we shall also make the hybrid for those who can afford,” said Tickodri-Togbo at Hotel Africana.
He was presiding over the launch of the finding of a study on the role of universities in innovation for inclusive development.
The Kiira EV car was first produced 2011 by a group of engineering students at Makerere University under the tutelage of Tickodri-Togboa.
A hybrid version of the initial car, the Kiira EV SMACK, a five-seater sedan, was later developed.
It was last year; the vehicle was showcased at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.
Tickodri-Togboa urged Professors to go beyond publishing research work and try to commercialize the findings of their research.
The Universities in Innovation for Inclusive Development in Africa (UNIID Africa) research project is designed to examine how public universities in selected sub-Saharan African countries (South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Nigeria) interact through their teaching, research and community engagement activities with a diverse set of external social partners.
By Billy Rwothungeyo, The New Vision