PHOTOS: VW launches Electric cars in Rwanda

This Tuesday, Volkswagen Rwanda officially launched electric vehicles in Rwanda through a partnership between Volkswagen and Siemens under a pilot project.

Officials say that these cars will be driven by their trained drivers in the test phase. 

Rwanda is the first country on the Africa continent to have these cars from Volkswagen. 

Michaella Rugwizangonga,  Chief Executive Officer of VW Rwanda said that, in the beginning, these cars will not be sold but will serve in the ride-hailing app Move operated by the firm. 

The electronic car will be of the Volkswagen Golf Model. 

While the Rwandan VW plant currently assembles three models in Kigali, the new electronic model will be produced in Germany and imported.

Rugwizangoga said that the pilot project is also part of the Volkwagen’s global ambitions of phasing out the combustion engines in the next decade as the firm seeks greener ambitions.

About the e-Golf cars

A fully charged car officials say can cover up to 230 Kilometres in ideal conditions. However, the distance is subject to conditions such as altitude, terrain and gradient among other factors. 

Rugwizangoga said that the firm is currently training drivers and technicians on the driving and maintenance of the electric cars.

Volkswagen entered the Rwandan market in June 2018 to assemble and also introduce a mobility solution.

During the launch of the facility in 2018, the firm said that they had the capacity to produce up to 1000 cars annually under the models (Passat, Polo, Amarok and Terramont)

It was expected to produce 90 cars by March this year.

Company executives were tight-lipped on the number of cars produced so far as well as the sales into the local market citing confidentially.

Volkswagen Rwanda’s model involves Semi Knocked Down kits during assembly.

A semi-knocked-down kit is whereby partially assembled parts and shipped in and then all put together for sale to customers.

The components of the cars are shipped from various markets such as South Africa, the US and Argentina.

They, however, disclosed to The New Times that the Terramont model has the highest demand in the Rwandan market.