Switching to electric and hybrid vehicles by both the manufacturers and the drivers themselves is a promising trend that makes waves all over the world. Not only have major international brands like Volvo and BMW have made it their goal to switch to hybrid and electric vehicles entirely over the course of the next few years but local auto manufacturer Nigus Enfinity has also stated that it plans to open its manufacturing plant for electric vehicles by 2020. From here, electric and self-driving vehicles are the next step, allowing commuters to travel with a significantly reduced impact on the environment and get some work done or relax playing at www.betway.com.ng while on the road.
As in many other areas, a lot of incentive – and a lot of innovation – in the area of electric vehicles comes from the United States, especially from Elon Musk’s “Tesla”. The celebrity businessman has admittedly entered the EV business to spark competition, and his plan seems to work really well, with EV production rising all over the world.
The country’s tax credit scheme offering buyers $7,500 if they buy an electric car played a significant part in this success. But there’s one major problem: this credit scheme is offered to the first 200,000 buyers only. Once a manufacturer sells this number of cars, the credit is no longer offered, putting the manufacturer into the non-competitive area.
The problem with today’s electric vehicles is that they are either affordable or high-performance. There is currently no vehicle on the market to offer high speeds and a long autonomy and a low selling price. Tesla’s cheapest Model 3 currently comes with a price tag of $49,000 (around 17.9 million nairas) and even its “affordable” variant will cost $35,000 (almost N13 million).
At the same time, the EV’s that even an average household could buy have nowhere near the autonomy and the power of the much cheaper gas-powered vehicles you can buy today. Government incentives are one way to maintain the EVs’ competitiveness on the market – and reduce their sales, continuing to trap drivers in a fossil fuel-powered treadmill.
The elimination of tax incentives has been proven to reduce electric car sales in the United States. A few years ago, the state of Georgia has ended its subsidies for EV buyers and introduced a registration fee for them.
In just one month, the sales of EVs has decreased from 1300 to under 100 as a result. And if the sales decrease, so will the interest in continuing to develop and manufacture these vehicles, leaving us with no alternative to the traditional, gas-burning engines.
