BYD Launches In Senegal, Beginning With The ATTO 3

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BYD is among the main EV corporations that’s now making its battery electrical automobiles accessible in additional locations world wide. Lately, it looks like we hear that BYD has launched a few of its fashions to a brand new nation each week or one thing. Notably, BYD is among the few large OEMs that’s not ignoring the South American and African markets. Which is nice, as a result of it exhibits that even the smallest markets world wide is not going to be left behind by the EV transition. I all the time say each EV that displaces a possible buy of an inner combustion engine car makes a distinction.

Senegal is the newest market to get BYD EVs. Yesterday, BYD introduced that it’s launching operations within the West African nation, beginning with the ATTO 3. The ATTO 3 and the small Dolphin hatchback have been the go-to launch fashions for BYD in quite a lot of markets world wide.

The BYD ATTO 3 is available in two fashions in most markets. Each fashions have a 150kW/310Nm everlasting magnet synchronous motor, front-wheel drive, and acceleration of 0–100 km/h in 7.3 seconds. The Commonplace Vary has a 345 km WLTP vary, and the Prolonged Vary model has a 420 km WLTP vary. AC charging is as much as 7 kW with a Sort 2 connector and DC  charging is as much as 70kW/80kW (CCS2) respectively. The ATTO 3 is a C-class SUV constructed on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0.

Senegal’s car panorama is characterised by a really getting old fleet. Primarily, all of the vehicles on capital metropolis Dakar’s roads use low-quality fossil gasoline and contribute to about 2.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per 12 months, with a calculated social price of $97 million per 12 months. These numbers are rising quickly. Moreover, 1 / 4 of toddler deaths in West Africa at the moment are associated to air air pollution. Air air pollution additionally results in different illnesses that result in elevated public well being prices, decrease studying outcomes at college, and diminished productiveness within the office. So, it’s actually good to see extra EV choices being made accessible in Senegal.

Getting old taxis are a number of the worst contributors to this air pollution in Dakar. There are about 16,000 taxis in Dakar, Senegal, and though they account for lower than 5% of Dakar’s car inhabitants, they represent about 45% of the visitors circulate on common as they zoom by means of town all day searching for clients. These taxis contribute at the very least 20% of the air air pollution in Dakar, so switching them to electrical would have big advantages for everybody within the metropolis. Mbay Mobility was the primary mover in Senegal’s electrical automotive sector and is working to deal with this drawback by offering progressive financing fashions to assist taxi drivers swap to electrical automobiles.

BYD has been collaborating with native companions in quite a lot of its new markets. In Africa, BYD has partnered with CFAO. CFAO Mobility in Rwanda not too long ago launched East Africa’s first BYD automotive dealership in Kigali. The showroom is positioned within the Kicuriko district and covers 330 sq. meters. The ATTO 3 electrical SUV can be accessible within the Rwanda market instantly, adopted by the Dolphin and Dolphin Mini (BYD Seagull) fashions within the coming weeks. CFAO Mobility says they’re a pioneer within the deployment of electrical options on the continent and can provide Rwanda an ecosystem of providers to help the automobiles, putting in recharging stations and supplying solar energy era options, car upkeep, help, and spare components.

Based on CFAO’s web site, Toyota Tsusho Company (TTC) has been a significant shareholder in CFAO since 2012. In 2017, after cementing their relationship in 2016, CFAO grew to become Toyota Tsusho Company’s (TTC)  African division and its platform for enterprise growth on the continent. The brand new entity provides to current divisions masking automotive, metals, chemical substances & electronics, and extra.

It’s nice to see extra EVs being launched to extra markets world wide. Customers can solely purchase what is obtainable of their markets, and subsequently, as extra EVs begin to attain extra locations world wide, we are going to actually begin to see the transition collect extra momentum.

Photos courtesy of BYD