5 key unique things about Ugandan made electric vehicles Kiira EV

Kiira ev
PC: QZ
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Kiira EV (Electric Vehicle) was manufactured in 2011 by Kiira Motors Corporation, an innovation held by 96% of the government of Uganda and 4% Makerere University. It’s important to note that Kiira EV was the first Electric vehicle to be made in Africa. In this article, these are the five unique things you didn’t know about Kiira EV.

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Contents

Brief details about Kiira Motors Corporation

TypeState enterprise
IndustryAutomotive
Founded2014
HeadquartersNtinda, Kampala, Uganda
Key people
  • Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa (Executive Chairman)
  • Paul Isaac Musasizi (Chief Executive Officer)
ProductsAutomobiles
Owner
  • Government of Uganda (96%)
  • Makerere University (4%)
Websitekiiramotors.com

Other products of Kiira Motors Corporation

Kiira EV
ProductYear of makeQuantity
Kiira EV (Electric Vehicle)20111
Africa’s first hybrid vehicle20143
Africa’s first solar electric bus20165

The five key unique things of Kiira EV

Kiira EV Features

1.Battery power

  • Starting with the type of battery Kiira EV houses, it is powered by Lithium-ion batteries capable of very high energy storage, high charge acceptance, high specific power, and high energy density giving it the ability to run many kilometers of the road without warning for a recharge.
  • It uniquely consists of 4 battery banks with 64 cells connected in series (recalling some little high school physics) this therefore ensures effective battery monitoring increasing safety and reliability of good power supply, meaning it can’t just shut down instantly.
  • The Kiira EV power train consists of three vital parts, thus; Energy storage bank, energy converter, and induction motor. It is powered by electricity which is stored in the battery bank through repetitive charging.

Note:

  • Its battery bank capacity carries up to 40 AH and 207 V which is enough for an 80km journey. Recharging or energy restoration of this battery won’t be hard since it can as simply be achieved from a home wall socket or any readily available power supply in town.

2. The wheels

  • The Front-wheel drive power transmission layout was adopted so as to achieve maximum torque transmission, elimination of additional components like the propeller shaft, reduction of mechanical power losses and to also create ample space at the rear for components including the battery charger, baggage and spare tire.

3. The Engine

  • Kiira EV houses an engine that runs an induction motor due to its efficiency, rigidity, and torque output performance as compared to other motors used in similar roles in other car engines.
  • Motor control is achieved through an efficient Vector control algorithm for effective power switching from the inverter.
  • The inverter utilizes intelligent power modules for three phases switching to the motor. Driver communication of commands to the motor controller is through a distributed communication network implemented using the CAN protocol

4. Car care and safety

  • Kiira EV is capable of controlling the car environment and safety of its passengers by the use of its real-time control system made of an intelligent communication network.
  • In this way, the car provides information about the real-time state of all its systems available on the display system that provides guidelines for the location of faults that occur plus documents on how the faults can be corrected. All this adjusted to the conditions of our local environment.
  • Kiira EV has a resilient system that makes it so adaptive to failure of some of its components, always finding out ways to solve these issues if the primary implementation fails. For example, if the indicators malfunction, the car will instead use the tail lights/brake lights to indicate the driver is turning left. Additionally, it has a high response rate, making it gain its top speed in split seconds.

5. Kiira EV Design Specifications

ParameterValue/property
Number of Doors3
Seating Capacity2
Length3000mm
Width1600mm
Height15000mm
InteriorColor Cream
ExteriorColor Green
Top Speed100 Km/hr
Wheel Base2175mm
Ground Clearance200mm
Dry Weight1000 Kg
Motor TypeInduction Motor
Power Consumed Per Charge15.6 kWh
Cost of Charging6000 UGX
Maximum motor Speed10,000rpm
Motor Power20kW/26 Hp
Maximum Power47 kW/62 Hp
Maximum Battery Voltage fully charged256 V
Battery Voltage fully discharged180 V
Charging time at 13 A 240 V5 Hours