The electric vehicle which President William Ruto settled for during the Africa Climate Summit consumes Ksh2 per kilometre and takes Ksh740 for a full charge, according to Green Africa Foundation, parent company of the manufacturer Auto Pax Air Yetu.
While appearing as a panelist on Citizen TV, the foundation owner Dr. Isaac Kalua advocated for electric cars as the future of transportation, emphasising their cost-effective measures and potential to revolutionise the industry.
He said that a distance from Nairobi to Thika, an average of 45 kilometres, used Ksh90 while from Nairobi to Kisumu, it consumes Ksh708.
According to Dr. Kalua, President Ruto used a total of Ksh10 for a single trip from State House, Nairobi to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), using a fraction of the 300-kilometre range available on a full electric charge.
He added that the vehicle, which is produced by Auto Packs Limited, has received 314 orders in two days since Ruto used it in the past three days, with 100 of the orders requesting a car similar to what Ruto drove.
The car is manufactured in Liuzhou, China and assembled in Nairobi. According to Dr Kalua, the car costs an average of Ksh1.7 million.
Kalua also revealed that the decision by President Ruto to use the car during Summit happened by chance.
"We had no plans to have the president in that vehicle. On Sunday, the e-mobility Association of Kenya paraded vehicles and we were doing rounds in the city starting with City Centre,” he said.
“The President’s Advisor on Climate Change asked the details of the car. He termed it as extraordinary. Because I believe in prayers and we had just prayed about it, it ended up in State House."
He clarified that the vehicle's choice of yellow was coincidental and was not politically linked, owing to United Democratic Alliance (UDA)'s primary colour.
During the Africa Climate Summit, Ruto broke protocol and drove himself using the electric vehicle.
According to State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, Ruto made the unconventional choice to show his commitment to adopting electric vehicles.
"President Ruto leads by example, driving himself to KICC in an electric car and an all-electric motorcade to connect with Africa's Youth on their climate declaration ahead of the Africa Climate Summit tomorrow," Mohamed stated.
The Africa Climate Summit focused on addressing the global and African-specific impacts of climate change.
