http://observer.ug/education/41630-mak-s-kayoola-bus-gets-ready-for-the-limelight Mak’s Kayoola bus gets ready for the limelight 14 December 2015 MOSES TALEMWA & YUDAYA NANGONZI
[images http://observer.ug/images/Kayoola-EV-as-it-looks-today-1.jpg Kayoola EV today http://observer.ug/images/Kayoola-EV-during-bus-building-stage-last-year-2.jpg Kayoola EV during bus building stage last year http://observer.ug/images/Brian-Kaweesa-in-white-and-Mario-Obua-explaining-the-interior-of-the-bus-2.jpg Brian Kaweesa (in white) and Mario Obua explains the interior of the bus ] It has been three years in the making, but the team that is building the Kayoola Electric Vehicle (EV), is confident that the new bus will form the basis for a discussion on how public transport should be over the next few years. According to the team’s main supervisor, Paul Isaac Musasizi, their first effort at making a bus has been delayed by logistical challenges but the final product is a good sign of what can be done. “For now, the bus will be fully electric, with batteries in the belly of the body, and a solar panel on the roof to supplement power… we think it will be able to do about 80-100km, without recharge,” Musasizi said last week. When we visited last week, the team told us they had one month of work to conclude development of the bus. Most of the body had been completed, and the technicians set to spray, before installing exterior lights and solar panels on the roof. The interior was also almost complete. “What we need is about one month of work to finish. We only need one thing - the intelligent brakes. Without the brakes, you cannot power the transmission. But within one month, we shall be done,” Musasizi said. ORIGIN The 30-seater Kayoola EV is the product of years of extensive research into vehicle systems that would offer fuel-efficient solutions for Africa. This research started back in 2007, when Prof Sandy Steven Tickodri-Togboa headed what was then known as the Vehicle Design Project, in the old faculty of Engineering. Tickodri-Togboa recalls that the project was pivotal. “This idea was inspired by Makerere’s participation in the 2006-2008 Vehicle Design Summit 2.0, which was headed by the US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),” Tickodri-Togboa recalls. “Makerere was the only African participant and we were the lead team in the development of power electronics and data networking of the Vision 200 prototype. From there we went on to develop our own vehicle.” Almost all the students on that original team went on to work for international firms, paving the way for a new team. Only Gerald Madanda, then a junior member, stayed. The subsequent team went on to develop ... the Kayoola solar electric bus is to be powered by 240 Lithium Ion cells, packaged as two battery banks, one running the motor at a time. It designed to cover 80km before the next charge. TECHNICAL ASPECTS From the exterior, the pale white bus looks like any normal 30-seater coach. However, it is on the interior that the changes are more profound. The luxurious cream seats were built by a team of coach builders from Kibuli, right down to the neat finish. Any other coach builder would have attempted to squeeze a further 10 seats, but the team at Kiira Motors are concerned with bringing the technical concept of a bus to life. “The more load you have (passengers), the more pressure you exert on the battery packs,” explains Brian Kaweesa, one of the mechanical engineers on the team. While the original idea was to create a hybrid vehicle, enjoying a mix of fuel and electricity, this has been abandoned, according to Musasizi. “The bus is purely electric and our idea is to test the strength of solar energy in enabling people to move. It is not a product but a concept on the contribution of solar energy,” he explains. “We have done several tests on the solar panels in our labs. For instance, when you charge them for like six hours, you can do 12 km ... then you have a battery bank which can give you a further 80km. However, they have designed the two-battery banks in such a way that one of the banks powers the bus during movement, while the other is being charged. The solar panels on the roof are backup if both banks run out. However, he says there is room for adjustment, once the bus is in production. “That is the basic design but going to the product, we shall change the design (a bit) so we can use solar to power up the climate control system, for instance,” Musasizi says. RACE TO 2018 Arising out of Makerere University’s Centre for Research in Transportation Technologies, the team behind Kayoola EV is looking forwards, as Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC). According to a recent statement, they are moving to become the first automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in East Africa. To this end, the government has committed nearly $90m (about 297bn) for the project. Of this, about $36m (118bn) has been used since project inception, when the team was building Kiira EV in 2011 ... Musasizi explains that the KMC is concluding land procurement for their base at Kagogwa village in Jinja, where they will obtain a 99-year lease for 100 acres of land. The base will be built with state-of-the-art facilities for engineering, production (with anticipated capacity of five cars per eight-hour shift), corporate affairs and vehicle validation unit. But Musasizi, who says they have already concluded an Environmental Impact Assessment, is anxious for the work to get on schedule. “The clock is ticking. Our resolve is to accomplish what we set out to do. Everyone should play their role at every time to get this done,” he says. KMC is also in talks with several international vehicle manufacturers in Japan, China, India and Malaysia to determine who they will partner with. Pressed on this matter, he smiles. “There are already strong indicators on who we are working with, but I think let us wait until next June, when we shall tell you.” And he speaks like someone who has thought through this long journey. “We want to partner with an established company so that we can learn from them. But while we are doing that, we are advancing technological capability. Ultimately, from an engineering point of view, you want to develop at least 90 per cent of your product to attract high quality jobs,” he adds. “We want to look at who gives us the best mix of technology and the leverage to get to the market.” While the team has done extensive research on electric vehicles, the first vehicles out of the Jinja plant are likely to be fuel combustion. TEAM BEHIND VEHICLES Apart from Prof Tickodri-Togboa and Musasizi, the main team behind the bus includes Albert Akovuku, Arthur Tumusiime Asiimwe and Vanessa Nakalanzi on the managerial side. The others are Pauline Korukundo, Doreen Orishaba, Victor Tumwine, Dennis Kibalama and Asaba Emmanuel Busobozi, who comprise the Vehicle Electronics and Information Systems Team; Fred Matovu, Africa Junior, Edgar Mugabi and Mwesigwa Enock Treasure who are part of the Powertrain and Charging Infrastructure Team; Jonathan Kasumba, James Byansi and Nakimuli Thatcher Mpanga, who are part of Industrial Design Team; and Brian Kaweesa, Ian John Kavuma, Mario Obua, Patience Petua Bukirwa and Moses Muyanja, who make the Mechanical Engineering Team. The project is also working with local industries such as Specialized Welding Services in industrial area for chassis fabrication and support for Mechanical systems integration from the Makerere’s Regional Industrial Parks Projects (CRIPPs) garage in the College of Engineering and Design Art and Technology, under the leadership of Dr Joseph Byaruhanga and Engineer Peter Luyima, working with a team of mechanics, who include Moses Kalule and Bosco Ssali. But Musasizi says this is only the beginning and the journey to formalise KMC will see the team expand to include a strong marketing and administrative team. “For instance, there are no lawyers in Uganda with the knowledge of how to handle a vehicle recall exercise, so we will need to build strong capacity in that area,” he says. Ultimately, they also plan to keep feeding the lessons learned in the making of the cars back into the universities. “Fortunately, we have come from academia; so we will feed these reports back to universities and tertiary institutions so we can build on the capacity of local talent.” [© observer.ug] ... http://allafrica.com/stories/201512141845.html Uganda: Mak's Kayoola Bus Gets Ready for the Limelight [14 DECEMBER 2015] http://vc.mak.ac.ug/component/content/article/88.html Makerere University | Professor Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa is an Engineering Scientist and Professor, with vast Research, Teaching and Administrative Experiences ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Stevens_Tickodri-Togboa ... http://allafrica.com/stories/201512142475.html Uganda: Kayoola EV Sets Standard for Training By Problem-Solving 14 DECEMBER 2015 ... While the skeptics wait to see if the car assembly plant will take off in Jinja, the team at Makerere is showing that it is possible to make problem-solving training work ... For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-MakerereU-s-Kayoola-e-bus-gets-ready-for-the-limelight-ug-tp4679241.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
