Abstract

Part of the The Urban Book Series book series (UBS)

Abstract

Minibus taxis are ubiquitous in the developing cities of the Global South. This versatile and somewhat chaotic public transport system is now faced with the need to move to renewable energy. However, the looming roll-out of electric vehicles poses a threat to the already fragile electrical grids of African cities. This chapter evaluates the energy requirements of decarbonising paratransit and evaluates two types of data, passenger-based and vehicle-based, from research in South Africa that has modelled these taxis. Using these two data capture methods, we assess the energy requirements and charging opportunities for electric minibus paratransit in three African cities and compare the results of the two methods to assess their suitability for planning minibus taxi electrification. We found that vehicles need approximately 300 kWh of energy per day, with stationary charging times up to approximately 8 h per day. The results demonstrate the need for reliable tracking data when assessing vehicular energy requirements, which directly impact infrastructure requirements. We conclude by highlighting the remaining challenges on the road to decarbonisation.

Keywords
Electric vehicle,
Paratransit,
Minibus taxi,
Passenger data,
Tracking data,

Keywords