Electric Vehicle Manufacturing: Automotive Council Lauds Local Firm

The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has lauded SAGLEV Electromobility Nigeria Limited for pioneering electric vehicle manufacturing in the country.

With factory located located in Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos, SAGLEV Electromobility is the first fully Electric Vehicle manufacturing assembly owner in sub-Saharan Africa, and the automotive council believes its initiative is worthy of commendation.

The NADDC Director General, Mr. Oluwemimo Joseph, gave the commendation on Tuesday, during a familiarisation tour of the SAGLEV EV assembly plant.

Represented by councils’ Deputy Director, Media and Protocol, Mrs Felcia Oyebolu, Osanipin described the SAGLEV assembly plant as a facility that meets all international standards.

The aim of the familiarisation tour, he said, is showcase achievements of local vehicle assembling companies to the world.

“Our visit to them will also afford us an opportunity to know their challenges. As a matter of fact, we’ve just finished from Southeast East.

“We are going to visit all six geographical zones.

“We are in the Southwest zone now.

“Next week, we are going to the Northwest. So like I said, the essence is to showcase our automotive industry. In line with the Nigeria First policy, we are telling Nigerians not to import but to patronize made-in-Nigeria vehicles.

“The programme is free of charge for stakeholders. The Federal Government is paying. Our happiness is that all the stakeholders are ready”, he stated.

Chairman of SAGLEV Incorporated, a US-based company, and also SAGLEV Electromobility Nigeria Limited, Dr. Samuel Faleye, praised while lauding NADDC for promoting Electric Vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria, said his company has had a long-standing working relationship with  the automotive council.

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“Apart from ensuring we are a certified assembler, they inspected us when we started, anytime we have a problem with the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC), they come to our aid.”

He said 80% of technicians working in the SAGLEV EV assembly plant were products of the NADDC capacity building scheme, adding that for over eight years, Nigeria has had a curriculum for electric vehicle technician training, which was developed by Automedics, a company working with NADDC for capacity building.

“For me, one of the biggest achievements of NADDC is promoting automotive components manufacturing in Nigeria, including leather upholstery.

“Come to think of it, we are manufacturing leather handbags, one of the best qualities in the world. There is no reason why we, therefore, can’t produce upholstery for cars? So NADDC is involved in all of these?”, he stated.