Mastodawn

A "too good to be true" EV leasing model for Kenyan taxi drivers? Drivers bear all the risk. Tech solutions should empower, not extract.

via xitter @ChinaGSProject

https://chinaglobalsouth.com/analysis/small-chinese-ev-on-lease-promises-big-savings-for-kenyas-taxi-drivers/

#Africa #Kenya #Nairobi #ElectricVehicles #EV #EVs #informaltransport #populartransport #publictransit #publictransport #SharedMobility #SustainableMobility #sustainabletransport #TransportationColonialism #TransportationJustice #TrufiAssociation

Small Chinese EV on Lease Promises Big Savings For Kenya’s Taxi Drivers

In a suburb about 50 kilometers outside of Nairobi along the busy Mombasa Road, the hum of engines and the occasional smell of exhaust fumes fleet through the air. A tiny Chinese EV car, the Henrey, weaves its way through the heavy traffic to drop a customer at a building ...

The China-Global South Project

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Trufi Association Apr 16

The car’s efficiency is real (200km for $3), but leasing models must prioritize affordability over corporate profits. The leasing scheme lease shifts costs to drivers through aggressive repayment terms. A $390 deposit and $25/day adds up fast for taxi drivers already facing volatile incomes.

Transport ecosystems thrive when they are transparent. Open data on fares, routes, and vehicle costs lets cities set fair EV policies—rather than leaving drivers vulnerable to predatory terms.

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madsenandersc Apr 16

@TrufiAssoc I'm sorry, but did you not read the article?

“For just 2,400 shillings ($25) a day, a driver can lease this car,” says Macharia. “There are no fuel costs. No engine repairs. And you charge it for less than 400 shillings (about $3), and you’ll drive 200 kilometers on a single charge. Compare that to the 3,000 shillings you’d spend on petrol for the same distance.”

The driver pays less for leasing the car and charging it, than the fuel alone would have cost with a fossil fuel car. Leasing the fossil fuel car would have come on top of the 3000 shillings already spent on fuel.

From the article it seems that the volatility of the drivers income is not from paying the car lease - it is wildly fluctuating fuel prices that is the culprit.

An EV can be powered by solar and wind if really needed, making a dependence on fossil fuel much less of an issue. No, the solar production may not be in place yet, I really don't know - but it is at least a way out of the reliance on imported fuel.

No, I would not trust the Chinese any longer than I could throw them, and I honestly don't want them to get other nations to depend on them, but I think that these taxi drivers have a better chance at life with these small EVs.

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Ted Johnson Apr 16

@madsenandersc @TrufiAssoc I live in Madagascar, and my first thought was, "Wow! I could afford that. What if I could lease a few of these and hire some drivers to work these cars earning about what they're used to earning." And then I thought, "Oh shit. That's exactly what people with a little money are going to do."

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Trufi Association Apr 16

@madsenandersc EV savings are real, but the lease math is questionable. $750/month means drivers pay $18,000 for a $15,000 car with no equity. While better than fuel costs, rigid leases just swap one risk for another. The core problem? Lack of fair alternatives like cooperative ownership models. Currently, this benefits Rideence more than drivers.

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madsenandersc Apr 17

@TrufiAssoc I'm not sure that I completely understand your point, but it may be my lack of knowledge about the way the leasing market in Kenya works.

Is there anything that prevents a coop from buying the cars from the importer and then lease them on other terms than the ones offered by Rideence? Say, a leasing period of 36 months instead of 24 (or however long it will take to pay off the car)?

As for the car being the property of the leasing company until the lease is paid in full - that is how it works everywhere as far as I know.

Fair? - well, that kinda depends on how long you have leased the car, doesn't it? I mean, if you have paid your lease in two months it seems fair enough that the car still belongs to the leasing company, but if you have two months left it seems outrageous that a missed payment could mean losing the entire car.

Her in Denmark we have two types of leasing. The first one is financial leasing, which is the same as in the article. The second is operational leasing, where you pay a monthly lease and then everything except road tax and insurance is included.

You have to have an all-risk insurance on your car (the cost depends on where you live, years without incidents and expected mileage), but once that is in place, your only expense outside of the lease is fuel and road taxes.