A local electric vehicle assembler, Tom Renewable Electric Bike Assembly & Sales, will begin production next month of its first mass-produced vehicles.

The plant was opened on the premises of the Addis Abeba City Administration's Technical & Vocational Training Bureau, Nifas Silk Poly Technic College, and Tom Renewable plans to eventually assemble around 40 types of electric motor vehicles there.

The electric vehicles can go up to 40Km/h and are charged using standard 220v electric outlets. The vehicles take between four and six hours to get fully charged and can travel up to 60Km on one charge.

The company imports spare parts from China and sells electric bikes for around 35,000 Br, while a three-wheel electric motor vehicle has a price tag of approximately 65,000 Br.

Tom also sells a range of other electric engines such as motorcycles for the disabled, load carriers, trolley box carts, and construction and farming motor vehicles starting from 1,250 Br.

The company entered into a public-private-partnership agreement with the Nifas Silk Poly Technic College on June 19, 2019, that allowed it to open its production plant in one of the buildings located inside the College.

According to the agreement, Tom will provide training to students in their last year of education. The company will also hire at least 50pc of the graduates of the auto mechanic department every year. The department currently has around 1,200 students.

In addition, from every electric motorcycle sold, the college gets 200 Br to cover utility costs, while the undergraduate students will be working at the plant for free.

“Our major goal is not earning money," said Meles Yigzaw, dean of Nifas Silk Poly Technic College. “The greatest benefit we can get from this project is providing practical learning to our students while securing jobs for them when they graduate.”

“In addition to being employees, we can see our students opening shops that sell the vehicles and establishing maintenance workshops,” added Meles.

The contract that was signed between the two also does not have a time-lapse and “will keep being in force as long as the operations of the company are in line with the vision of the college,” reads the contract.

In its first year of production, the company plans to sell between 15,000 to 20,000 of its products. Though the company expects penetrating the market will be challenging, they still believe they will be able to triple production in three years.