“One day cars will run on water….” That was the introductory line of a bank advert that aired in my teenage years. An advert I never forgot. The advert showed a man pull up to a filling station and refueling his car. Surprisingly, after filling his car, he took the nozzle and poured the fuel – which turned out to be water – in his mouth. I found that very fascinating. And for a while, I tried figuring out how that technology could work… how to build a car that runs on water. The closest I could get to a solution was a car which had a micro hydro-electric generator as its engine. But, that engine would have insufficient power to drive a car. Eventually, I decided to leave the car till I became older and wiser.

It’s December 2021, and while we have not shifted to cars that use water as fuel, globally there is growing shift to cars that use electricity and not gas, AGO or PMS as fuel. In February, that shift got to Nigeria with the unveiling of the first commercial electric car assembled in Nigeria – the Hyundai KONA Electric. But there were mixed reactions, with a slight majority of the comments I saw kicking against it. For three main reasons: First, we are an oil producing nation, and should thus discourage electric vehicles. Second, there is no electricity in Nigeria, so electric vehicles (EVs) can’t work. (One comment even joked that the cars will run out of electricity in Lagos traffic). Third, we have bigger issues to worry about.

But are EVs really an unwelcome development in Nigeria?

While it is true that Nigeria is an oil producing country, should that stop us from pursuing electric vehicles? That argument is similar to the argument that newspapers could have made a decade ago. “Since we make money from selling newspapers, we should discourage people from accessing news through the internet.” Those who made that argument have either faded or forced to adapt to the moving times. When it comes to mobility, the times are already moving.

Last year, the top 5 oil and gas producing countries were USA, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada and China. Of these, at least 4 are already moving. In August, the major car makers in the USA committed that 50% of all new cars sold by 2030 will be electric, in line with a Government Executive Order which set a target to have EVs make up 50% of all new cars sold in the USA by 2030. Some regions in Russia plan to stop sales of diesel and petrol cars by 2035. China is already the largest market for EVs. The USA is the second largest. Canada has a 2040 target to phase out sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Oil production has not proved to be a stumbling block to them in promoting EVs. Why should it be for us?

What about the second challenge? How will EVs survive in a country where grid power is insufficient and unreliable? Well, here is a counter-question…. how have conventional cars survived in a country that refines less than 5% of its domestic oil demand, and doesn’t have functional and reliable pipelines that transport refined crude across the country? How many petrol stations were there when we shifted from bicycles to cars? How much crude were we refining when the first car arrived Nigeria?

What am I driving at? Historically (and not only in Nigeria), the current state of supporting infrastructure has not deterred technological progress. In many cases, the technological progress drives the creation/expansion of the supporting infrastructure. Even if we start today to introduce EVs in Nigeria, it will take many years for it to become mainstream and those are years that can be used to develop the charging infrastructure. But if we refuse to start introducing EVs because of the existing infrastructure, then the infrastructure will likely never be in place.

Another point is that the national grid capacity is not a true representation of electricity generation in Nigeria. For every 10 units of electricity that the power generating companies have enough resources to produce, they are forced to produce only 6 or 7 because the grid is limited in what it can handle. That excess generating capacity can be leveraged for public EV charging stations. Also, for every unit of electricity that the grid supplies, Nigerians in their homes and business premises generate 4 or more units. For EVs to be truly sustainable, the electricity should be from renewables, and solar powered charging stations (which are grid independent) is a very good path for Nigeria. The reliability of the grid will only be a stumbling block, if we want it to be. And about cars going off in Lagos traffic…. the average EV has a range of over 300km, which is equivalent to driving from Lagos to Akure (or using petrol of about 5,000 naira).

Now to the final argument. We have bigger issues at hand. Truly, Nigeria is a country with issues. From insecurity, to corruption, to unemployment, to falling foreign exchange rates, to being the poverty capital of the world, there are issues. But EVs are an opportunity. An opportunity to grow the economy by increasing local production of cars. Because EVs are easier to assemble, it will be easier to set up assembly plants for them in Nigeria. Which will create jobs, increase the GDP and reduce outflow of foreign exchange. Imagine the possibilities if we became a regional hub for assembling EVs.

Driven by the need to decarbonize society to reduce climate change, the world is already moving towards zero emission vehicles, and it is very difficult to see a reversal. In January, almost no major manufacturer had phase out dates for Internal Combustion Engines. But, by November at COP26, vehicle manufacturers representing a third of the global market had set a determination for all new car and van sales to be zero emission by 2035. If you think 2035 is a very long time, then remember that it was just yesterday Wizkid released his first hit (actually it was 14 years ago – “Holla at your boy”).

It’s up to us to decide what side of progress we want to be on? Hopefully, we choose the right.

In October, I was at a seminar on Electric Vehicles and Solar-Powered Traction in Nigeria organized by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC). It was refreshing to see that we’ve not lost steam since the unveiling of Hyundai KONA electric. I hope it continues to grow.

But, let’s go back to where we started. Will cars one day run on water? Maybe, maybe not. But in a way, your car runs on water, if you charge your EV with electricity from a hydro-electric power generating plant.

•Engr. Odinakachi Umunna (MNSE, MNIEEE, AMNIM) is a first class engineering graduate with broad energy industry experience (oil, gas and power); and stints in media and public sector. He is passionate about energy access, business development and leadership; and can be reached at umunnaodinakachi@gmail.com.

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