We may miss the silver lining in fuel tax farce if all we do is protest

Fuel tankers parked at Shimanzi, Mombasa, on September 6, 2018. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • While we are busy whining about the expensive fuel, the rest of the world is busy investing in new technology.
  • With the infrastructure in place early enough, Kenya will have a head start by the time the rest of East Africa realises that the petrol engine is dead.

Our biggest problem, as Kenyans, is protests. We react rather than prevent problems.

The era of high fuel prices has finally caught up with us. And every media outlet in the country is now warning us to expect more pain as the hungry government digs its hands deeper into our empty pockets.

As usual with Kenyans, we protest and blame everyone else apart from ourselves for this predicament.

We are all protesting so angrily that we probably will miss the silver lining in this so dark a cloud.

ALTERNATIVE
Let it be known that the developed world experienced the pain of high fuel prices several years ago, and decided to do something about it.

And, no, they did not insist on a reduction of fuel prices, rather they got busy weaning themselves of dependence on petroleum to power their industry and transport.

While we are busy whining about the expensive fuel, the rest of the world is busy investing in new technology.

No self-respecting car manufacturer is investing in fuel-efficient engines any more.

They have all since joined the rat race to produce the ultimate the electric car.

The race leader is Mr Elon Musk, that unconventional South African entrepreneur who jolted the vehicle manufacturing industry with the Tesla all-electric car.

TESLA
Of course pessimists were quick to challenge the Tesla cars, about how far they could go before they needed a recharge. Psychologists even have a name for this concern — range anxiety.

Let us look at the maths. The most affordable Tesla, the Model 3, has a range of 499 kilometres.

Now, the distance between Nairobi to Kisumu is 341 kilometres, which means the base Tesla model will do that distance on one charge.

However, you can stop over in Kericho to take tea and rest your tired knees, and add a few miles on the car’s charge using the restaurant mains.

This can take you all the way to Funyula, where you can hook it up overnight for the drive back to the city. Of course higher models of the Tesla can easily complete 550 kilometres on one charge.

BATTERY TECHNOLOGY
So, with this looming disruption of the petroleum powered car, where does that leave the diesel buses, lorries and trucks?

Tesla already has an electric truck that can travel between 482 to 800 kilometres on one charge, which would eliminate range anxiety for truck drivers from Mombasa to Malaba.

This means manufacturing a bus or a lorry using the same technology is a no-brainer.

Other vehicle manufacturers have joined the electric car bandwagon.

Car models we will soon see on our roads include the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Bolt and the Hyundai Ionic.

Toyota and European models were a bit slow to join the race, but they are all catching up fast by investing in battery technology.

Mercedes, Porsche, Volkswagen and Jaguar have all lined up fantastic electric cars set to be released in the next two to three years.

CLEAN ENERGY

Volvo and other truck manufacturers are busy working on their own versions of fully electric or hybrid trucks and buses.

To show how serious all this is, the list of countries announcing a time frame for banning petroleum cars has been growing.

Most of Europe has set a 2030 date for a total ban of petroleum cars, and 2040 for a total ban of diesel vehicles.

Some countries have a commencement of 2025, a mere seven years from today. So, what can the government do to promote cleaner energy electric car?

For one, the government should go for the low hanging fruit, like increasing tax on all imported petroleum cars, lowering tax on fully electric or hybrid cars and funding the expected infrastructure change that the disruption will cause, in this case the construction of charging stations across the country.

Cost of electricity and its reliability cannot be gainsaid.

PROPER PLANNING

Before going fully electric, the government can go the Delhi, India, way, by banning all diesel vehicles over 10 years old, and replacing them with those that use cleaner Compressed Natural Gas.

Being cheaper and cleaner than diesel, CNG use will result in lower costs for PSV owners and cleaner air for urban residents across the country.

Bus company can be forced to either buy new buses, replacing their diesel engines with CNG ones or converting their current engines from using diesel to CNG.

With the infrastructure in place early enough, Kenya will have a head start by the time the rest of East Africa realises that the petrol engine is dead.

Finally, the ministries of Finance, Energy and Environment had better start having the long overdue conversation of when exactly Kenya will fully ban petroleum and diesel vehicles from our roads.

We need proper timelines. And while at it, please remember Kenya only has two or three decades to exploit the oil in Turkana, after which that commodity will be rendered obsolete.

The writer works for the Saturday Nation [email protected]