Kiira Motors: Electric vehicles made in Uganda by 2021

The state-owned vehicle manufacturer Kiira Motors plans to start production of electric vehicles in Uganda in July 2021. The plant that is under construction in Jinja shall make 5,000 electric buses and other EVs per year.

Uganda is not as much of a stranger to vehicle production as it may seem. VW is already assembling EVs in Kigali, the capital of neighbouring Rwanda and is mobility pilots there as reported.

For Kiira, owned by the Ugandan state, support for the EV plant comes from the Chinese manufacturer CHTC Motor. They are already constructing the plant in Jinja, close to the capital Kampala, with the ambition to manufacture 90% of the required components locally. Ugandan steel, lithium and copper are to help make the electric buses. There is also talk of bamboo floors and banana-fibre seats in the local media.

It is also not the first electric vehicle from Kiira once the e-buses will hit the market in summer next year. The team behind Kiira produced the Kiira EV, a two-passenger prototype and the first EV to be entirely designed and built-in Africa back in 2011 – as a PHEV. The website also shows the Kayoola bus with a spec range of 300 kilometres.

The new factory will concentrate on producing electric buses for the public and private transit companies. Technical data is missing at this point in time. What is new is the number of 5,000 units as before, the series runs were small.

Kiira reasons that the global market for e-buses has grown from about 100,000 units in 2016 to 500,000 in 2019 with Chinese manufacturers serving most of the demand. This is to change, even if it the company relies on China’s CHTC to upscale production as mentioned before.

The long-term goal by Kiira Motors and their EVs made in Uganda is to reduce air pollution in Kampala, that counts among the most polluted cities in the world, and other major cities in the East African country.

globalfleet.com, kiiramotors.com

24 Comments

about „Kiira Motors: Electric vehicles made in Uganda by 2021“
Andreas Triebel
30.08.2020 um 17:23
Ich befürworte die Bemühungen Ugandas, aber bitte mit so wenig wie möglich Chinesischem Einfluss
Andreas Triebel
30.08.2020 um 17:25
Richtigstellung, Unterstütze
Jubi Gajuk Wurnyang Lupaya
30.08.2020 um 21:04
A car made in Africa can be support so our continent also can become amongst super powers
Boniface Namulende
23.05.2023 um 20:43
Yeah.i think this is a good idea for Africa.very interested for the first time ever.
DM
03.09.2020 um 14:13
Maybe next century, unfortunately this century Africa is becoming more of the target for Chinese neocolonialism.
Dan
23.02.2023 um 19:01
Chinese neocolonialism? What rubbish! Unlike the usa, whose secretary of defense went to uganda and attempted to strong armed Ugandan president to cut ties with Russia, China has never tried to force any African country to adopt policies. Neocolonialism _ you don't know the meaning of the word. Go learn something before you speak nonsense.
Henry
05.08.2022 um 20:58
There we are, Uganda is progressing at a high speed. We are hoping for a better future long live Jaja long live Uganda long live Africa
ondieck otoyo
30.08.2020 um 23:12
price of busese
Sakwa' julius
12.08.2022 um 10:31
It's a great achievement and job opportunity for unemployed ugandans and a relief for atmospheric pollution
ATUHIRE JOHNBOSCO
31.08.2020 um 08:04
What amazing plan!! cheers Ugandans.
Kalungi safinah
31.08.2020 um 11:56
when you publish those kiira motors, what about those poor people who used to get food from Small taxes ,what are they going to do if you try to extend Chinese to our country and investigate money from us instead of leaving poor people getting little as they used to do,and what you have to know that money from kiira motors will not help us as Ugandans but they will declear us
Samuel kalemera
31.08.2020 um 20:59
Cheers Uganda we are on the way up
Kirunda Betty Grace
31.08.2020 um 22:16
Oh great. How i would very much like to own one of these buses for my private school. I also believe many Ugandans will get jobs from KIIRA BUS INDUSTRY
Kato
11.09.2020 um 08:00
Amazing. This is just the starting point. Africa will soon start to consume African. What an attractive project this is! I'm super excited.... can't wait.
Kisakye Abigail Bumba
09.06.2021 um 12:45
Wow, more grace from above. This is a wonderful plan to have electric vehicles. God is moving the world to a more better life. Keep it up, you are blessed.
THOMAS MAKUMBI
01.10.2020 um 00:23
YES WE CAN
tusiime asaph
30.12.2020 um 15:10
quite gd news ,bt do u think it doent need everyone to charge 4 himself,if so,charging station is also expensive & takes some gd unit of time to be fully charged.Hence somehow expensive & risky driving lng distance.
Dave
13.02.2021 um 20:21
Electric vehicles are definitely the future. We're keen to use our Geotab Electric Vehicles suitability assessment to encourage more fleet owners to move to EVs here in the UK.
Andrew Oibi
29.06.2021 um 10:19
I think Uganda is starting to wake up to the fact that technology is the only reason western countries lord over us
Kitimbwe hamidah
04.08.2021 um 15:09
Good job, May God continue blessing and protecting my country uganda as well our beautiful continent Africa let's keep going
ahereza anselem
15.11.2021 um 08:57
let them first make where to charge them from and then they make prices of fuel high and we support kiira motors
Joshua Noreh
28.02.2022 um 05:27
How much longer is the date to start transport bus sales?
Georges Combe
16.08.2022 um 11:43
This is great news and all these people saying China this, China that, themselves europeans depend on China for parts... 90% are manufactured in China when it comes to electronics and mecanics... Africa has the opportunity to do both and it will be for this century. We keep our ressources, we get the technical knowledeg and the rest will come to us. End of foreign domnion is the goal. Now we will see who is who, we have talents in the pool of youngs brilliant souls.
Nabakooza betty
26.08.2022 um 21:31
Looking for industrial pacement

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