…Urges Banks To assist Nigerians in conversion
As prices of Premium Motor Spirit(PMS) otherwise known as Petrol continue to soar, Kwara State University has yet recorded another breakthrough of conversion of Five vehicles to Electric and CNG compliant as a better alternative for Nigerians to ride their vehicles.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Friday on the sideline of successes recorded, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Shaykh Luqman Jimoh, said that to make conversion of vehicles to either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or electricity more affordable to Nigerians, the leadership of the Kwara State University (KWASU) has called on financial institutions and banks in the country to institute special funding to assist Nigerians for the conversion.
The Vice-Chancellor, who suggested that the financial assistance by the banks could be in the form of loans, said that people who signify interest in the facility could then pay back gradually within a specified period, stressing that this would make life easy for everyone.
Professor Jimoh who said that the university will soon open a site for the conversion of vehicles added that a total sum of N854,000 was saved within seven weeks using electric vehicles.
He said,”For instance, we use this 14-seater electric bus for seven weeks to take staff from Ilorin to the Malete campus of the university. We saved N840,000 that should have been spent on fuel. One would have saved at least 50% of conversion money within a year using the CNG or electric vehicles. The battery has a life span of about 10 years minimum”.
Jimoh highlighted the gains of the conversion including cut in cost and environmental benefits, stating that while a litre of Petroleum is sold for N1,200, “a kilogram of gas is just N200, aside from that, the risk of carbon inhaling is obviously nonexistent.”
The Vice-Chancellor, also said that the institution has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with two Chinese companies to supply conversion kits (branded with KWASU) in order to fully go into commercialization.
KWASU he added is the first in the entire country to achieve this feat with the two Chinese firms: ZHEJIANG SINRAY ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED and JIAXING KEYUAN ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED.
He said that partnering with reputable Chinese companies for the supply of CNG conversion kits is a proactive step to ensure quality and avoid substandard products that could pose safety risks.
Shaykh Jimoh also urged Nigerians to invest more in renewable energy as it is economical, saying that conversion saves the cost of buying fuel and reduces emissions.
Though he complained that the nation’s universities are grossly underfunded, he however said that KWASU hoped to get more funds from the vehicle conversion project as it’s another window to generate Internally Generated Funds (IGR).
The Vice-Chancellor further said that the university had partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology ministry to convert vehicles, adding that 22 vehicles in the fleet of the state transport company, Kwara Express, would soon be converted to CNG vehicles.
He said: “When we converted our first two vehicles to electric, we presented them to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who commended and supported our efforts.
“Following his recommendation, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Technology entrusted us with three vehicles for conversion to electric. We have successfully converted two so far.”
“Recently, we completed the conversion of one vehicle to CNG, allowing it to run on both petrol and gas. We are not new to this process; we have been working on it for some time and are already seeing promising results.
“We are at the developmental stage now, by the time we get to the marketing stage, we should be able to add to the revenue advancement of the school especially when we get to the site here in town,” he stated.
Also speaking, Chief Technologist in KWASU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mr Abdulazeez Akande, who spoke on the environmental and economic benefits of the conversion projects, said Carbon emissions from vehicles have contributed significantly to ozone layer depletion.
He said: “The rising petrol prices have forced many people to park their vehicles. CNG offers a cost-effective alternative, providing up to 80 per cent savings compared to traditional fuel.”
He noted that, while electric vehicles offer even greater environmental benefits, their higher conversion cost currently makes CNG a more accessible option for many.
“One kilogram of CNG can cover at least 13 kilometres, making it highly economical. Since converting four vehicles that transport university staff to Malete, KWASU has saved approximately N840,000 naira in just seven weeks,” Akande reported.
Akande also said that electric car batteries have a lifespan of eight to ten years and operate without an engine, underscoring the durability and efficiency of electric vehicles
While conducting journalists round the workshop at the school’s office in Ilorin, the chief technologist, explained that while it takes about N6 million to convert a scrap vehicle to an electric vehicle, it only takes less than N1.5 million to convert a vehicle into CNG.
He added that the electric vehicles use renewable energy that will be charged, “the vehicle will not use engine but a renewable battery that would be charged and on a full charge will cover between 80-150 kilometres before next charge.”
