The country has only seven public charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs), all located in the capital, Accra, a survey commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has revealed. 

The survey, conducted last year, further revealed that for vehicles travelling outside the national capital, they could not recharge at any public stations in the regions unless from private residences that have them.

According to the market opportunity study on electric vehicle charging stations in Ghana report, there were more home chargers in the country than public charging stations, which suggests that they would be charging from homes, an act that was likely to increase household electric load for a typical home in Ghana.

The consultant for the survey, Dr Godwin Ayetor, disclosed this yesterday at the launch of UNDP Ghana’s first EV and survey report.

He said there were a lot of electric vehicles in Ghana, namely e-bikes, motorbikes and electric buses, that operated in Tema and Accra as a structural for fleet transport, carrying workers to work.

Findings

Dr Ayetor said the findings suggested that the country was not ready for electric vehicles.

“The question is, are we ready to meet the demand for the electricity that will be needed to charge these vehicles?

Imagine in the future, by 2045, diesel is gone, petrol is gone, and everything else is on electricity, and then compare it with the challenges we are having today, as to whether we are ready for that shift.

In a day, a typical EV will require about 23 kilowatt hours to operate. In a year, that should be around 22 gigawatt hours.

That amount alone is already more than half our electricity consumption today.

So, if we can achieve the EV policy target of 2045, where 70 per cent of all vehicles in Ghana are electric, we will need a considerable amount of electricity to power the vehicles,” he said.

Dr Ayetor said other issues the survey identified had to do with the availability of the charging stations, explaining that throughout the study, there were times none of the seven charging stations were working, adding that there were also maintenance issues and power fluctuations damaging the charging stations.

He said worldwide, events that precipitated the proliferation of electric vehicles were the presence of charging stations, pointing out that there should be a lot around.

He mentioned other issues to be the cost of the electric vehicle, quoting the current average price of EV in China to be €32,000, an amount he said was likely to double in Ghana due to cost of transporting the vehicle and payment of taxes.

He said the survey also identified that the public charging stations were environmentally very conscious, relying on solar, and cited examples as the ones at North Industrial Area, the Silver Star Tower and the ANC Mall.

Despite the challenges identified in the survey, Dr Ayetor said EVs were less costly to operate in terms of fuel, and in terms of operation and maintenance, it was much cheaper because the engine was out, and there was also no internal combustion engine.

EVs in Ghana

The UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Niloy Banerjee, said getting EVs on the road in Ghana came with challenges, including capacity, charging stations, accessibility and pricing issues.

He said his generation had messed things up, and if EVs were something better, then all should embrace it, and added that he felt they were on a path to make the world a better place.

There were solidarity messages from the Energy Commission, represented by the Deputy Director in charge of Energy Efficiency Regulation, Kennedy Amankwa; the Ministry of Finance, represented by Collins Kabuga, and the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), who all expressed gratitude to the UNDP Ghana Office for the report.

The Deputy Director in charge of Environment at MEST, Raymond Ohene Ofori, added that the report would play a key role in informing policy decisions that could support the adoption and growth of EVs.

“It will also identify key opportunities for investment and business growth in the value chain for electric vehicles,” he said.