LagRide, a government-backed ride-hailing platform, will pioneer the use of electric vehicles in 2025, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company plans to deploy electric cars supplied by CIG Motors Co. Ltd., a Nigerian representative of Chinese state-owned automaker GAC Motors.
This would position LagRide as the first ride-hailing service in Nigeria to embrace electric vehicles. It directly supports Governor Babajide Sanwoolu’s ambitious goal of transitioning half of Lagos State’s public transportation to electric power by the year 2030
The move follows a June 2024 agreement between LagRide and CIG Motors to acquire 5,000 new vehicles, expanding the ride-hailing service’s fleet to 6,000. A source close to CIG Motors confirmed that electric cars are already being branded for LagRide ahead of their 2025 launch.
LagRide has yet to respond to requests for comments on this story.
The electric vehicles are expected to be unveiled under the Wuling brand, also owned by GAC Motors. Wuling Motors Holding Limited offers two electric car models, the Yep and the Bingo, both four-door, five-seater vehicles. The estimated price of these models is ₦36 million ($22,787), significantly cheaper than Xiaomi’s newly launched electric car, the SU7 which costs $30,408. The Chinese smartphone company had hoped to undercut the Tesla Model 3 with a cheaper sport utility vehicle (SUV).
While the ₦36 million price tag is competitive compared to some new Toyota cars in Nigeria, it represents a significant increase for drivers who participated in LagRide’s 2022 vehicle financing scheme, which required them to pay ₦10 million ($6,224) over four years.
Affordability will be a key concern for the successful rollout of electric vehicles next year. In the interim, LagRide drivers are seeking reductions in commissions and daily asset repayments. In July 2024, daily asset repayments were increased by 17% from ₦8,955 ($5.57) to ₦10,522 ($6.55) due to rising inflation and economic headwinds.
Possible Implications
Analysts have projected that two-wheelers will be the dominant vehicle to lead EV adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2040. Ampersand in Rwanda and Spiro in Nigeria have demonstrated how the integration of energy infrastructure (charging stations) with mobility services (electric motorbikes) can disrupt logistics and transport going forward. LagRide’s introduction of four-wheeler EVs is ahead of that curve and could usher in a new future of commuting for drivers and ride-hailing businesses. A well-structured loan especially in Nigeria could drive user adoption.
