We all use electricity at one point or another. It powers our homes, it cooks our food and it keeps the darkness at bay. We use it to charge our phones, our laptops, our ipods and our digital cameras. Some may even say that it keeps the world spinning. But what if we could use it to charge our cars?

Imagine never having to buy petrol ever again. All you would have to do is plug in your Toyota and remember to check if your battery was full once in a while. You could save a fortune on fuel.

How Do They Work?

Electric cars are powered by fuel cells and electric motors instead of the traditional petrol engines. One of the best things about an electric vehicle’s batteries is that they are rechargeable. They can be powered from almost any available electric outlet.

Some even use solar panels as a secondary means of charging the vehicle.

Not yet satisfied? Picture this: electric cars have no tail-pipe emissions and they hardly make any noise. In fact they are generally more silent than petrol engines.

How Much Do They Cost?

The question on everyone’s mind right now is how much do they cost? Well, according to an article by Car Magazine UK, an electric saloon car can cost about USD 50,000 (KES 4.2 million). Driver Seat reports that rechargeable battery packs alone can cost as much as USD 15,000 (KES 1.3 million).

How long do they take to Charge?

With constant blackouts and disrupted power supplies, does it really seem convenient to own an electric vehicle? I guess it depends on how much time you’re willing to spend fueling your vehicle because according to Hybrid Cars, it takes about 7 and a half hours to charge an electric car. The dealer also notes that electric vehicles use approximately KES 1.40 for every Kilometer. This is definitely cheaper than any Subaru I have ever seen.

Is it Possible in Kenya?

At this point, I think we all know that Kenya Power currently holds most of the cards when it comes to electricity. If anyone is going to supply the country’s vehicles with power, it’s going to be the biggest stakeholder.

Kenya Power has its roots deep in the ground. It is the country’s number one power provider and as far as they are concerned, it’s good to be king.

The only problem is, how many people will sell off their old cars and buy the more fuel efficient models? We can only hope and speculate but there is always the option of simply trading an old petrol engine for an electric motor. A conversion kit costs as much as USD 6000 and installation can cost up to USD 3000. So it’s safe to say that electric vehicles are a possibility but one just has to be willing to make a few sacrifices.