Kiira Motors, UCAA Partner To Promote Electric Kayoola Bus

For the next couple of weeks until September 11, 2020, the Ugandan manufactured EVS-Low-floor electric Kayoola bus will be plying the Entebbe road route on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and will be offering free shuttle services to Entebbe Airport Staff from Kampala to Entebbe Airport and from Entebbe Airport to Kampala with an aim of promoting and marketing the environmentally friendly and cost-effective Kayoola bus.

According to Allan Muhumuza, the Director Marketing and Sales at Kiira Motors Corporations the Manufacturers of the Kayoola Bus revealed during a press briefing at Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) headquarters on Monday that the Kayoola bus is cost-effective in terms of energy consumption and maintenance compared to a diesel bus.

“Kayoola Bus’ energy consumption is Uganda Shillings 320 per km compared to a diesel bus that has an energy consumption of 1670 Uganda Shillings per Km and maintenance wise, it will cost one half the amount to maintain an electric bus compared to a diesel bus so there are great savings for the bus owner and operator. We are glad to note that the past one week that Kayoola bus has been offering free shuttle services to Entebbe Airport Staff, it has been a success.

We (Kiira Motors Corporation) want to thank UCAA Management for believing in us and accepting to take on our offer of the shuttle services even before they knew anything much about the buses. We thank you for the support and the faith in a Ugandan Product. We are committed to ensure that we deliver the best service to you in these eight weeks and also see how we prospect to partner together beyond these eight weeks going forward. Kiira Motors being a Motor vehicle Manufacturer has been mandated by government which is the Majority shareholder with 96 percent shares and Makerere University with 4 percent shares to champion value addition for the automotive industry

On his part, the acting Director-General, Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), Mr. Fred Bamwesigye, welcomed the partnership between UCAA and Kiira Motors Corporation to promote the Kayoola bus that will solve Uganda’s transport problems.

“The Kayoola bus is a positive welcome to our transport challenges and we are at UCAA are glad to have them as our partners and especially since it is a Ugandan company and the buses are being made in Uganda, we pledge to support the company and make it succeed so that we have something to get proud of as a vehicle made in Uganda. We aren’t taking the buses permanently, this is a marketing attempt and Kiira Motors has given the Entebbe Airport Staff a free transport offer that commenced on 20^th July 2020 and will end on 11^th September 2020.

I am reliably informed that the Kayoola Bus is fully electric, and is specifically designed for urban mass transportation. Once fully charged, the bus has a range of up to 300 kilometers, which covers the Entebbe-Kampala route and back comfortably. With a sitting capacity of 90 people, the buses could compliment air transport operations and beef up road transport by providing more options to arriving and departing passengers connecting to the city. If well utilized, they could also contribute to reduction in congestion on the roads,” Mr. Bamwesigye said.

Mr. Bamwesigye added;

I have also noted the state of the art safety and assistive technology for people with special needs, including special seats and a ramp for easy boarding and off-boarding of people in wheelchairs. The onboard Wi-Fi and USB charging ports for phones are a plus that make the ride comfortable. The new concept resonates well with our core value of embracing new ideas and technology since we live in a rapidly changing environment. It is even more pertinent that the bus is environmentally friendly because it is electric powered, which rules out the burning of diesel and the associated pollution.

In the complimentary offer to UCAA, the shuttles are working alongside our buses, but are specifically used three times a week for a period of eight weeks as follows;