By Yange Ikyaa
Phoenix Renewables Limited is a Nigerian start-up company that is currently working on its maiden project that is aimed at making and using brand new electric vehicles in Nigeria.
Started in 2018 as a renewable company, the company’s establishment was the result of its founders’ passion for the environment.
As the Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Renewables, Engr. Sadiq Abubakar, told Valuechain in an exclusive interview, “In response to the challenges of global warming, so we started with normal inverter solution for household energy requirement, as well as solar solution, but we still look further because we are people that like to innovate, so we look further at how we can grow.
“Then, we started experimenting on lithium ion battery, which everyone knows is the technology that made electric vehicles possible. We now have the expertise and technical know-how in that aspect, so we said that why not start producing electric vehicles?
“And thank God, today you can see how far we have come and this is just the tip of the iceberg, this is just the starting point. We have vision and goals to achieve. We want to put Nigeria on the world map as a consumer of home made electric vehicles.”
As an indigenous company, Phoenix Renewables has made it a corporate policy to always study its market environment in order to see problems that people are facing and the solutions they can apply in resolving such problems.
“And here in Nigeria, we all know the problem at hand today, which is the high cost of energy that led to government subsidising the cost through price regulation; that is why the government is facing stiff opposition from the Nigerian labour in their bid to removing fuel subsidy. It is expected that when the current subsidy is removed, price of PMS, which is the main product used by vehicles in the country will by almost 100 per cent. So, looking into that, the cost of transportation will also go up and, as a company, these factors motivated us to go into electric vehicles (EVs), said Mustapha Ibrahim,” who is the Managing Director of Phoenix Renewables.
These electric car entrepreneurs have been into this project of electric vehicle production for about three to four years now, having built their first prototype, which is the electric tricycle, since 2019. And their deliberate choice is not to be too comfortable because their vision is beyond the tricycle vehicle. That is why, after starting with just a three wheeler, they moved into building or converting a petrol mini bus into electric one, and from there, they also went ahead and designed a bus by themselves. Already, the company is fabricating the designed bus, which will be locally built here in Nigeria, or at least, with about 70 per cent of materials that will be sourced locally.
In order to drive this vision forward, Phoenix Renewables has put structures in place to develop a mega factory, where the company will be producing up to 2,400 vehicles per annum. This plan cuts across cars, three wheelers, and even light trucks. They also have designs for light trucks that will be able to have loading capacity of up to two to three tons, all electric.
The buses which have been designed by Phoenix Renewables are being targeted at mass transit, while the light trucks are targeted at cargo and utilities around the towns. Furthermore, there are plans to build long range buses which can do interstate mass transit services.
One of the selling points or market advantages that Phoenix thinks it has in the automobile industry is that the company always studies the market before coming up with its technologies. It is also cost sensitive in developing vehicles that will be affordable.
According to the company’s Managing Director, “whenever we are coming out with technology, we try as much as possible to see what the market can afford. This is because you can build the best technology, but as far as people cannot afford it, it is as useless as nothing.”
That explains why the company is targeting the whole market with the idea that the average Nigerian should be able to own a brand new vehicle. You can see currently, almost 90 percent of the automobiles used in Nigeria are foreign used vehicles, and Phoenix is trying hard to see how it can compete with this influx of used vehicles.
The plan is to come out with a better technology, brand new, and still competitive relative to those that are shipped into the country as old vehicles. Now with a couple of electric buses already produced, Phoenix has also built its charging station because that is where the major problem is. These charging stations takes less than 40 minutes to fully charge a bus that can travel for up to 130 kilometers. This now makes it possible in such a way that as commercial drivers are loading their passengers, they can also be charging the batteries of their vehicles.
For the salon cars, those who purchase it will also have a charging station in their own houses and, with a full charge, it can travel for up to 240 kilometers, and with 240 kilometers within the city, the battery may not be used up completely in one day.
“So, maybe it can last you two to three days before you can charge your vehicle again, and it’s more realistic as opposed to what most people fear in terms of how they can be able to charge their vehicles,” said Mustapha in an interview with Valeuchain.
“You know, every time you talk about electric vehicles, people think of poor power supply problem in Nigeria, thinking it cannot work in the country, but we are actually trying to change that notion to make it more feasible for average Nigerians, not for the high class people but for average Nigerians,” he further explained.
The Research and Development Unit of Phoenix is very robust and effective in delivering the solutions, and all the man power are locally sourced from Maiduguri.
On the choice of location for the company, its promoters did not choose Maiduguri only on the consideration that they are actually from Borno State, but looking at Maiduguri having the highest level of sun hours per day in the whole of Nigeria, there was no better location.
As Mustapha told Valuechain, “if we can get those talents in Maiduguri, then think about other parts of the country in terms of what can be achieved. And for us to be able to take our materials there, take our energy there, take our resources there means that anywhere in this country, whatever that you want to do, you can achieve it, so that is the idea, proof of concept.”