REPUBLIC OF RWANDA

MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE

STRATEGIC PAPER ON ELECTRIC MOBILITY ADAPTATION IN RWANDA

APRIL 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 Current situation ............................................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Vehicle statistics ..................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Emissions ................................................................................................................................ 3
2.3 Overdependence on oil............................................................................................................ 4
2.4 Current initiatives in electric transport.................................................................................... 4
3 Types of electric vehicles ............................................................................................................... 5
4 Economic assessment ..................................................................................................................... 5
5 Benefits of introducing electric vehicles ........................................................................................ 7
6 Barriers to Electric Vehicle AdAPTAtion...................................................................................... 7
7 Strategic goal and objectives .......................................................................................................... 8
7.1 Strategic goal .......................................................................................................................... 8
7.2 Objectives ............................................................................................................................... 8
8 Incentives to promote electric vehicles .......................................................................................... 8
8.1 Fiscal Incentives...................................................................................................................... 8
8.2 Non-Fiscal Incentives ............................................................................................................. 9
8.3 Administrative Measures ........................................................................................................ 9
8.4 Other measures........................................................................................................................ 9

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1 INTRODUCTION
With the growing concerns on environmental issues around the world, a large-scale adoption
of electric vehicles (EVs) is considered as an effective way in decarbonizing the transport
sector.
Transportation in Rwanda is mostly based on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles that
have negative environmental impacts in the form of air pollution hazardous to health, emission
of greenhouse gases that accelerate climate change, noise pollution among others.

As a result, Rwanda strongly depends on imported petrol and diesel for transportation services.
The transport growth therefore increases dependency on fuel imports that exert negative impact
on trade balance and exposure to volatile global commodity markets. This is not sustainable,
and at the macroeconomic level this has a strong effect on widening the trade deficit.
The Government of Rwanda (GoR) strives to ensure safe and environmentally sound transport
for goods and people to enable green development and innovation while reducing dependency
on fossil fuels in the transport sector.
In that regard, a study on introduction of electric vehicles was conducted and revealed that
electric mobility is one of the solutions to address the aforesaid issues.
The present strategic paper demonstrates, based on the findings of the aforementioned study,
the modalities and the requirements to accelerate the adaptation of electric vehicles in Rwanda.

2 CURRENT SITUATION
2.1 Vehicle statistics

As of 3rd July 2020, the number of registered vehicles countrywide is 264,524 excluding
security organs and Government vehicles. The transport sector is rapidly growing with an
annual vehicle growth rate of 12%, therefore, if no action is taken, air pollution and resulting
adverse health impacts will increase.
2.2 Emissions

The study conducted by REMA in 2018 on Sources of Air Pollution in Rwanda revealed that
vehicle emissions are the biggest contributor to poor air quality along busy roads. It further
indicated that the majority of transport related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are generated
from burning fuel in combustion engines.
The Third National Communication under the United Nations Framework Convention on
climate change report (REMA, 2018) indicated that Transport sector is among the main
contributors to the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions (Figure 1).

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 1800

1600

1400
Other sectors
1200

1000 Manufacturung industries and

construction
800
Energy Industry
600

400 Transport

200

0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Figure 1 : GHG emissions from selected sectors in Rwanda between 2006 and 2015 GoR
(2018) (1,000 tons CO2eq per annum)1

Apart from the newly introduced Volkswagen (VW) and Victoria Autofast vehicles; and
motorcycles from Ampersand, SAFI Universal Link and Rwanda Electric Motorcycle
Company (REM), motorised road transportation in Rwanda is entirely based on fuel consuming
vehicles or Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. ICE vehicles have negative impact on
environment due to GHG emissions.
2.3 Overdependence on oil

Rwanda depends on imported fossil fuel for transportation services. In 2018, fuel products were
among the largest single import product category into Rwanda. The overdependence on fossil
fuel has a strong effect on the trade balance.
2.4 Current initiatives in electric transport
A number of practical initiatives of electric mobility are undertaken by different stakeholders:
1. Ampersand has 35 operational electric motorcycles assembled locally with four
swapping stations. There is a plan to add more 40 e-motorcycles.

2. Safi Universal Links Ltd has 30 e-motos in operation with seven charging stations. The
company also has a training centre for e-motorcycles where seven e-motorcycles are
used for training.

3. Rwanda Electric Motorcycle Company (REM) has started assembling electric

motorcycles and plans to retrofit existing internal combustion engine motorcycles into
electric ones. Currently, 75 e-motorcycles are in operation and are fuelled by 1 charging
station and three battery swapping stations.

4. Volkswagen has 20 e-golfs fuelled by two charging stations operated by Siemens. One
charging station is located in Special Economic Zone (SEZ) while another one is
located at Kigali Convention Centre.

5. Victoria Motors Rwanda Ltd Limited has set up a company to exclusively focus on
promotion of Plug-in-Hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) Outlanders and electric buses in
Rwanda. As of now, 20 PHEV were sold and are in operation with corresponding

1
GoR (2018). Third National Communication: Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), Government of the Republic of Rwanda
(GoR), Kigali, September, pp 270

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 domestic charging units while other 60 PHEVs are in stock awaiting to be used during
CHOGM event.

6. The International Finance Corporation, IFC/World Bank expressed interest to partner

with Rwanda to introduce e-buses in City of Kigali (CoK). In this context, IFC has
dispatched a team of consultants to conduct the feasibility study of e-buses in the CoK.

3 TYPES OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Electric vehicle (EV) is powered partially or entirely by a rechargeable battery which powers
an electric motor. EVs can be recharged by plugging into the electricity grid. Since they use no
or less fossil fuel, EVs have low or zero tailpipe emissions. There are three types of EVs:
1) Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs): Battery Electric Vehicles, also called BEVs and
more frequently called EVs, are fully electric vehicles with rechargeable batteries and
no gasoline engine. All energy to run the vehicle comes from the battery pack which is
recharged from the grid. BEVs are zero emissions vehicles, as they do not generate any
harmful tailpipe emissions or air pollution hazards caused by traditional gasoline-
powered vehicles,
2) Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs): Hybrid Electric Vehicles, or HEVs, have both a
gas-powered engine and an electric motor to drive the vehicle. All energy for the battery
is gained through regenerative braking, which recoups otherwise lost energy in braking
to assist the gasoline engine during acceleration. In a traditional internal combustion
engine vehicle, this braking energy is normally lost as heat in the brake pads and rotors.
Regular hybrids cannot plug into the grid to recharge and cannot charge with EV
charging station.
3) Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles, or
PHEVs, have both an engine and electric motor to drive the car. Like regular hybrids,
they can recharge their battery through regenerative braking. They differ from regular
hybrids by having a much larger battery, and being able to plug into the grid to recharge.

4 ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT

i. Buses

 For Buses, the assessment revealed that capital cost (CAPEX) of an electric bus is
almost 4 times the cost of an internal combustion engine (ICE) bus. The economic
calculations showed that reducing by half the cost of battery and electricity would make
electric buses have the same overall cost (CAPEX plus operating cost (OPEX)) as the
ICE buses.

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 Figure 2: CAPEX and OPEX for bus cases. Single bus costs, including charging
infrastructure

ii. Taxi Cars

 For taxi cars, the cost of electric car needs to decrease by approximately 15% to reach
the same life cycle cost level as the fuel taxi, assuming they are charged fully overnight,
or with fast charging. Figure 3 shows the cost split for taxi cases.

Figure 3: CAPEX and OPEX for taxi cases. Single vehicle costs.

iii. Motorcycle taxi

For motorcycle taxi, the study indicated that the overall cost of electric motorcycle taxis is
slightly higher than the fuel internal combustion engine motorcycle. Furthermore, the reduction
of electricity tariff and any actions to reduce the upfront capital cost would result in a positive
business case. As stipulated in the figure 4 below, the overall cost of electric motorcycle taxis
is slightly higher than the fuel ICE motorcycle.

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 Figure 4: CAPEX and OPEX for MC. Single vehicle costs.

5 BENEFITS OF INTRODUCING ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The following are the benefits of electric vehicles, as compared to corresponding petrol or
diesel vehicles:

1) Low maintenance cost (almost half depending on vehicle category and use);
2) Reduced environmental impacts related to climate change;
3) Reduced dependency on fossil products (oil imports);
4) Decreased Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 17%;
5) Reduced importation on oil products by 15% (gasoline 21% and diesel 9%) annually to
stabilise balance of payment;
6) Cost savings of 20 billion Rwandan francs on oil importation up to 2025;
7) Increased electricity consumption by 132 GWh (15MW-installed capacity) to address
the issues of anticipated generation surplus up to 2030.

6 BARRIERS TO ELECTRIC VEHICLE ADAPTATION

Despite the trend of increasing interests in EV ownership in Rwanda, significant barriers to EV
adoption remain among residents:

1) Initial purchase cost. Residents report that the most significant factor preventing them
from buying an EV is the initial purchase cost. Though the operating costs associated
with EVs are significantly lower than gasoline-powered vehicles and more used EVs
are becoming available, the purchase price of new EVs remains a barrier for many
potential owners. As more used electric vehicles become available and battery costs
decline, this barrier will become less significant.

2) Charging infrastructure. For many residents, the decision to purchase an electric

vehicle depends on their ability to charge at their convenience. However, charging
infrastructure are not yet enough.

3) Concerns regarding range and knowledge gaps. In addition, concerns around the
vehicle’s range and confusion about the different types of charging infrastructure can

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 prevent residents from purchasing an electric vehicle. Electric vehicle advocacy to
bridge knowledge gaps and common misconceptions that persist regarding EVs is very
important.

With these barriers in mind, the Government of Rwanda has an opportunity to encourage EVs
adaptation by addressing these challenges.

7 STRATEGIC GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

7.1 Strategic goal

The goal of this strategic paper is to accelerate the adaptation of electric vehicles through
provision of incentives to both electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure, as well as
providing awareness to the public about the benefits associated with the usage of electric
vehicles.
7.2 Objectives

This strategic paper on e-mobility seeks to accelerate the transition to EVs in line with the
sustainable transportation hierarchy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle
transportation in Rwanda. To this end, the strategic paper has the following high-level
objectives:

1) Increase the penetration of electric vehicles;

2) Maximize access to electric vehicles charging infrastructure;
3) Increase awareness and knowledge level of EVs and electric vehicle charging options
among residents.

8 INCENTIVES TO PROMOTE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

The aforementioned adaptation challenges and barriers will be addressed through provision of
the following incentives for battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and
hybrid electric vehicles:

8.1 Fiscal Incentives

1. Electricity tariff for charging stations be capped at the industrial tariff level (large
industry category);
2. The electric vehicles to benefit from a reduced tariff during the off-peak time;
3. Electric vehicles, spare parts, batteries and charging station equipment be treated as
VAT zero rated products;
4. Exemption of import and excise duties on electric vehicles, spare parts, batteries and
charging station equipment.
5. Exemption of withholding tax of 5% at customs.
6. Introduce carbon tax to discourage polluting vehicles.

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8.2 Non-Fiscal Incentives

1. Rent free land for charging stations (for land owned by Government);
2. Provisions of electric vehicle charging stations in the building code and City planning
rules;
3. Green license plate to allow EVs getting preferential treatment in parking, free entry
into congested zones that will be determined;
4. Free license and authorization for commercial EVs;
5. Access to High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (Dedicated Bus Lanes).

8.3 Administrative Measures

1. Enforcement of existing emission standards to discourage the purchase of polluting

vehicles;
2. Establish restricted zones for green transport;
3. Regulate importation of used vehicles by imposing age limit;
4. Provide preference to electric vehicles for Government hired vehicles.
8.4 Other measures

Companies manufacturing and assembling electric vehicles (battery electric vehicles, plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles) in Rwanda are given other incentives in
the investment code such as 15% Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and tax holiday (irrespective of
the investment value).