Ray of hope for sub-Saharan Africa's paratransit: solar charging of urban electric minibus taxis in South Africa

Abstract

Minibus taxi public transport is a seemingly chaotic phenomenon in the developing cities of the Global South with unique mobility and operational characteristics. Eventually this ubiquitous fleet of minibus taxis will have to transition to electric vehicles. This paper examines the impact of this inevitable evolution. We present a generic simulation environment to assess the grid impact and charging opportunities, given the unique paratransit mobility patterns. We used floating car data to assess the energy requirements of electric minibus taxis, which will have a knock-on effect on Africa's already fragile electrical grids. We used spatio-temporal and solar photovoltaic analyses to assess the informal and formal stops that would be needed for the taxis to recharge from solar PV in the region's abundant sunshine. The results showed energy demand from a median of 215 kWh/day to a maximum of 490 kWh/day, with a median charging potential (stationary time) across taxis of 7.7 h/day to 10.6 h/day. The potential for charging from solar PV was 0.38 kWh/m2 to 0.90 kWh/m2. Our simulator and results will allow traffic planners and grid operators to assess and plan for looming electric vehicle roll-outs, and could lead to a new funding model for transport in Africa.