Nigeria’s quest to transit from fossil fuel-powered vehicles to electric ones received a boost with the naming of Jet Systems Automobile Industries Limited as the Nigerian Auto Journalists Association Electric Vehicle Company of the Year award winner.
Responding to his company’s emergence as the Electric Vehicle Company of the Year, the director of sales and marketing of the firm, Sanjay Rupani, said, “We are delighted to have received the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association award. We interpret this recognition as a challenge to accomplish more in terms of development and innovation.”
The company’s director of sales and marketing also disclosed that Jet Systems had set out ambitious plans to ensure a transformation in e-mobility space was intensified across Nigeria.
Part of these plans he said was to promote the adoption of e-mobility in Nigeria and educate the public on electric vehicles.
“We will also encourage relevant stakeholders such as governments at various levels, financiers, investors, the general public and the other assemblers to come together and develop the policies that will promote the systems,” he declared.
According to him, Jet Systems Automobile Industries Limited also plans to introduce more products that will meet different needs of mobility options at a budget-friendly price, in addition to innovating to provide energy solutions as it relates to electric vehicles.
Sanjay Rupani identified the target audience of Jet Electric Vehicles in the country to include all ministries, departments and agencies of the government, corporate entities, schools, transport companies and other logistics support providers.
Reacting, the chief operating officer of the company, Oluwemimo Osanipin, reflected on some of the constraints facing automotive assemblers in Nigeria.
He stated the bottlenecks in the automobile industry include inconsistent government policies and poor infrastructure.
The COO also frowned at the cost of funding in Nigeria, which he noted was extremely high and as much as 28 per cent annually.
According to him, apart from the current duty structure in the country that is unfavourable to assemblers, the hydra-headed problems of multiple taxes, and the porous border that facilitates the influx of grey importation remain a major concern that hampers auto assemblers’ bottom line.
The COO asserted that electric vehicle assemblers in the country expect the Federal Government to initiate policies that would encourage people to invest in EVs and also improve their use.
Furthermore, he wanted the government to offer consumers and assemblers incentives (both financial and non-financial) that will aid the speedy adoption of EVs.
He called on the government to improve policies that support local raw material production and infrastructure.
Jet Systems electric vehicle is the first fully locally-made electric vehicle to run on the Nigerian road. The new electric vehicle was made to have zero emissions and it is eco-friendly.
“We wanted to create a global product that is built to last. We were obsessed with getting it right because if our vehicles can work well on Nigerian and African roads, they can succeed anywhere in the world. Generally, our testing has led us to see what is best for the Nigerian and African market and that is what we have built with Jet Mover,” he asserted.
Founded in 2018 by a team of passionate professionals, Jet Motor Company started with its flagship brand, the Jet Mover, a multipurpose van to push the adoption of locally made vehicles.
The company’s main aim was to go into the production of electric vehicles from the start. After about three years of research, testing and iterative development, the company was finally able to achieve its objective with JET EV.
