This archive report was first published on 3 November 2019.
On November 3, 2019, Rwanda and Volkswagen Group South Africa announced a partnership to test the reliability of electric cars in Africa.
The partnership aims to make Rwanda the region's industrial hub and reduce vehicle emissions, aligning with Volkswagen's goal to go fully electric by 2030 and Rwanda's target for net-zero emissions by 2050.
At the Kigali Convention Centre, Volkswagen unveiled the e-Golf, an electric version of the popular Golf car, which comes with an eight-year battery guarantee and can travel 230km on a single charge.
The e-Golf can be fully charged in an hour using a 40kw per hour charger, currently available at the Kigali Special Economic Zone, which uses technology developed by German manufacturer Siemens.
Initially, there are four electric vehicles, but Volkswagen plans to increase the fleet to 50 as part of the test phase.
The cars will be used in Volkswagen's car-hailing and sharing services, popular in Rwanda through their Move App, which has 27,000 registered users and 60,000 rides since the beginning of the year.
Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Group South Africa, stated, 'We started working with Rwanda about two years ago and we can reach out to the continent through our work here.'
The electric cars are imported to Rwanda duty-free, a government incentive for large investors seeking to set up assembly and production lines in the country.
The e-Golf has been available in European markets since 2014 and costs around $35,900. Volkswagen also operates a car assembly in Kenya, which resumed in 2016 after a 40-year hiatus.
