Malawian electric bike innovator boosts users’ profitability

* SGV Mobility’s goal is to manufacture 40,000 electric bikes annually within the next four years

* To demonstrate significant cost savings and carbon reductions, and to export to neighboring countries

By Praise Alemekezeke Dzenza, MANA

SGV Mobility, a Kanengo-based electric motorcycle manufacturer has revealed that its electric motorcycles are significantly enhancing profitability for customers, delivering an impressive 88% reduction in operational costs.

In an interview on Thursday, founder Colin Sargent said the company has overcome initial challenges, such as human resource development, and is now seeking partnerships to allow customers to buy the motorcycles on a loan basis to boost production.

“SGV Mobility’s goal is to manufacture 40,000 electric bikes annually within the next four years to demonstrate significant cost savings and carbon reductions, and to export to neighboring countries.

“We’ve dedicated five years of hard work to SGV and currently our production line can assemble five bikes per day with the 20 members of staff we have. We also have a technician development pathway established with Don Bosco Youth Technical Institute.”

Sargent added that the company is using a succession training model where a student is partnered with an experienced technician for a year, and then the former student becomes the next teacher.

He said with the arrangement they exepect to increase the number of bikes to 80 per shift, equivalent to 160 bikes daily, totaling 40,000 bikes per year by 2027, adding they are confident that demand is there if affordable loans are offered.

A recent report by Bloomberg has noted that globally, motorcycle and tricycle electric vehicles are displacing about a million barrels of oil demand per day, whereas passenger cars, in total, are displacing about a quarter of a million barrels of oil demand per day.

For context, approximately 100 million barrels of oil are consumed every day worldwide and the SGV founder says a 2.5-kilowatt-hour lithium solar battery is good for over 120 kilometers which he said is cost effective.

Since its incorporation in 2017, more than 100 electric motorcycles have been built in Malawi by SVG and are in the hands of customers with over 30 technicians certified.

Business and economic commentator, Kingsley Jassi has appealed to authorities to encourage local manufacturing of electric vehicles and motorcycles to reduce the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and alleviate the challenges arising from the fact that every drop of fuel must be bought with forex.

According to Jassi, in addition to a 3-ton reduction in annual carbon emissions per bike in the face of climate change, electric motorcycles offer cost-efficiency and this is attributed to the low cost of electricity and the simplicity of their design compared to combustion engine counterparts.