Kiira Motors Corporation

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Kiira Motors Corporation
legal form LLC
founding 2014
Seat Kampala , Uganda
management Paul Isaac Musasizi
Branch Automobile manufacturing
Website www.kiiramotors.com

The Kiira Motors Corporation (short: Kiira or KMC ) is a budding Ugandan automobile manufacturer . Founded in 2014, the company is 96% owned by the state-run Uganda Development Corporation and 4% by Makerere University . So far, the company has presented three electric and hybrid vehicles . The Chairman of the Board is Paul Isaac Musasizi .

history

The company's origins go back to a project at Makerere University in Kampala . In 2007, students from the university were the only African team to take part in the Vehicle Design Summit 2.0 , a project founded by MIT students to design the vehicles of the future. Based on this experience, the Transport Technology Research Center (CRTT) was founded at Makerere University in 2009. The CRTT should research and develop environmentally friendly mobility offers. Accordingly, the Kiira EV was presented as the first prototype of the research center in November 2011 in the presence of the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni . The project was then incorporated into a government industrialization initiative which included the establishment of a Ugandan vehicle manufacturer based on the progress made by the CRTT.

This initiative led to the establishment of the Kiira Motors Corporation in 2014, which was initially 100% owned by the state-owned Uganda Development Corporation Limited (UDCL). Following a lawsuit, the university was granted a 4% stake in an out-of-court settlement.

The company set the goal of gaining a 15% market share in East Africa within ten years.

Since its inception, KMC has presented two more models: the solar-powered bus Kayoola and the hybrid vehicle EVS. The EVS was shown in November 2014 at the Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi . As of January 2019, the company started taking orders for the vehicles, with the EVS priced at around $ 35,000.

The company is to be supported with $ 350 million from government funds. In February 2019, the whereabouts of state funds already disbursed was questioned in parliament. Further funds for KMC, which is considered a prestige project of President Museveni, were partially withheld by the cabinet. Funding of USD 11.8 million was originally planned for the 2019/2020 fiscal year. So far, however, the cabinet has only approved payments of USD 6.44 million.

On May 30, 2018, the Ugandan government imposed an import ban on used cars over 15 years of age. This measure is also intended to strengthen future domestic automobile production. A Ugandan source, however, gives a maximum age of eight years and completely different reasons (environmental protection and safety).

Locations

Factory design

The company's headquarters are in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. A modern production facility with production areas, a test track and office buildings is to be built on an area of ​​around 400,000 square meters in the southeastern district of Jinja . The first construction phase, in which the basic manufacturing facilities are to be completed, is expected to be completed in 2021.

With the completion of the plant, Kiira intends to start producing 10,000 vehicles per year, which will then be increased. By setting up large production facilities, KMC wants to keep the value chain in Uganda as much as possible and, with the creation of jobs, the use of local raw materials and impulses for the creation of further companies that can benefit as suppliers from the emerging automotive industry in Uganda, for the industrialization and economic development of Uganda contribute. According to the company, the factory should be designed for an annual capacity of up to 150,000 cars per year. The workforce should consist of 14,000 employees. Since KMC will not use the planned capacity with its own vehicles for the time being, the company wants to sell capacities to other vehicle manufacturers such as the Indian manufacturer Tata Motors .

Models

Kiira EVS

Kiira has so far presented three different models.

Kiira EV

The EV is the company's first model and is a purely electric car. It has four battery blocks with 64 lithium-ion cells each . The nominal capacity is 40 ampere hours, the nominal voltage 207 volts, which results in an energy content of 8.28 kWh. The range should be around 80 kilometers.

Kiira EVS

As a hybrid car, the EVS is powered by an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. The EVS is the first hybrid vehicle to be developed in Africa. The purely electric range is 32 kilometers. The EVS is 4.9 meters long, 1.5 meters high and has a top speed of 140 km / h.

Kayoola

The Kayoola bus is to be used in local public transport. The Kayoola has a lithium-ion battery that can be charged using the solar cells on the vehicle. The range of the Kayoolas is given as 80 kilometers.

Web links

Commons : Kiira Motors Corporation  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Isaac Khisa: Gearing for Ugandan-made motor vehicles. The Independent, January 24, 2016, accessed July 10, 2019 .
  2. ↑ VEHICLE DESIGN SUMMIT. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  3. ↑ President Museveni Launches Kiira EV, Pledges More Support to Mak. November 25, 2011, accessed June 26, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Patience Ahimbisibwe: Government to own Makerere's Kiira EV car. In: monitor.co.ug. October 25, 2015, accessed on July 11, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Introducing the 'Made in Uganda' electric car. November 25, 2014, accessed June 26, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Uganda's hybrid car launched in Kenya. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b Volker Seitz : Dossier of Hope: Made in Africa. In: Axis of the Good . May 12, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Josephine Namuloki: MPs 'shocked' as Kiira Motors fails to account for Shs 15bn. In: observer.ug. February 14, 2019, accessed on July 11, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Under Funding slows Uganda's Kiira engine project. Retrieved June 29, 2019 .
  10. ↑ The new Fischer World Almanac 2019 . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, p. 484 .
  11. ↑ Kenneth Asiimwe and Job Lakal: How will the recent ban on importation of used cars older than 8 years affect Ugandans? In: eprcug.org. September 10, 2018, accessed on July 19, 2019 .
  12. ↑ KIIRA MOTORS CORPORATION - Climate Action. Retrieved June 29, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Justus Lyatuu: Kiira engine ready to take car orders. Retrieved June 26, 2019 (UK English).
  14. ↑ Solomon Obwot: Kiira Motors Corporation has started constructing its factory in Jinja. In: Techjaja. March 26, 2019, accessed June 29, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Kiira EV | Kiira Motors Corporation. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  16. ^ Kiira EVS: What you need to know about the Ugandan-made sedan. In: SautiTech. January 14, 2019, accessed June 26, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Kiira EV SMACK | Kiira Motors Corporation. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Kayoola Solar Bus. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .