MaurineTheuri
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Electricity distributor, Kenya Power, has announced plans to install charging points for electric cars along major highways, parking lots and malls, countrywide. The move seeks to bring new revenue streams and boost demand for cars that don’t use petrol and diesel.
Although the company did not give timelines for the project, Kenya power managing director Bernard Ngugi says they will begin with Nairobi.
The government of Kenya aims to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in the country in the next five years with a goal to have 5% of all registered vehicles in Kenya being electric vehicles by 2025. Already, Nopia Ride, a taxi-hailing service that only uses electric cars, is scaling up operations in Kenya. The firm has so far installed charging stations in three locations; the Two Rivers Mall, the Hub Karen and Thika Road Mall.
To help encourage electric vehicles’ adoption, Kenya reduced excise duty on the cars from 20% to 10%.
In August last year, KenGen also planned a similar rollout for electric car charging facilities.