{"id":40732,"date":"2020-01-18T13:35:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/what-you-need-to-know-about-ampersand-e\/"},"modified":"2020-01-21T13:03:34","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T13:03:34","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-ampersand-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/what-you-need-to-know-about-ampersand-e\/","title":{"rendered":"What you need to know about Ampersand e-motorcycle taxis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The project aimed at promoting a zero-carbon future where people and goods can be transported by vehicles with the least carbon dioxide emissions.<\/p>\n

The e-motorcycles use a battery swap model which can be used for 65 to 70 kilometers. Discharged batteries are replaced at Ampersand stations at Rwandex, Nyabugogo, and Kimironko.<\/p>\n

Ampersand which deals in electric vehicles and charging systems currently employs 20 drivers who give to Ampersand Rwf 37,500 of the total amount they have earned over the week.<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Hakizimana, Ampersand Country Manager in Rwanda told IGIHE that ampersand received 7000 applications of people who want to operate the e-motorcycles but that their objective is having at least 500 moto riders by the end of 2020.<\/p>\n

Hakizimana said that besides noise cancellation features and other advanced technology features surpassing many other models in performance, the e-motorcycles use an automatic transmission easing the rider’s experience. <\/p>\n

“Ampersand motorcycles have recorded better performance due to their automatic transmission and advanced technologies used in the manufacturing process.”<\/p>\n

Hakizimana said that Ampersand motorcycles are a solution to climate change caused by pollution.<\/p>\n

A 2017 report by REMA showed that cars, motorcycles and charcoal and wood smokes contributed to the release of more greenhouse gases. The report also showed that 95.2% of cars in Rwanda were manufactured more than 10 years ago. 56.6% were manufactured before 1999 while 77.2% were manufactured before 2000.<\/p>\n

Gasago Venuste, one of Ampersand drivers has been using the e-motorcycle for 5 months now. He said that he has made more earnings since he started using the e-motorcycle compared to using a fuel-powered motorcycle. <\/p>\n

“For a liter of fuel which costs Rwf 1070, a motorcycle rides for 45 kilometers while for Rwf 940, Ampersand motorcycles can go for 60 to 70 kilometers. With only one battery, I earn Rwf 5000 while I couldn’t exceed Rwf 3500 per liter of fuel in the past.”
\nTuratsinze Emmanuel who uses Ampersand as well said he would never dream using fuel-powered motorcycles again. <\/p>\n

“Ampersand was a life-changing tool and I can never go back to using fuel again.”<\/p>\n

Despite all the praises Ampersand motorcycles have received, users suggest batteries should be empowered to support more kilometers given that there are just a few stations where the batteries can be swapped.<\/p>\n

Ntawukirasongwa Jean Marie Vianney who uses a fuel-powered motorcycle says it would be hard to switch to Ampersand since there are just a few stations for swapping batteries. Maniriho Gerard also agreed that there is a risk the motorcycle could switch itself off anytime.<\/p>\n

Regarding the issue, Hakizimana said that Ampersand is working to bring more solutions to allow a seamless experience to riders. <\/p>\n

\u201dWe are working on establishing more stations across Kigali but considering the number of drivers we currently employ, the available stations are enough.”<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Health in Rwanda reports that every year, 3 million patients suffer from respiratory problems among which 13% were affected by air pollution.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May 2019, 20 e-motorcycle taxis were launched in Kigali to transport people and goods as a pilot scheme to test their performance on the Rwandan market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-40732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40732"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=40732"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=40732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}