Osinbajo: First Nigeria-assembled electric car, Hyundai Kona, fantastic

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is obviously excited after not only beholding but test-driving the first Nigerian-assembled electric car, Hyundai Kona.
He praised those behind the ingenious idea, Hyundai Motors Nigeria’s team, a subsidiary of Stallion Group, for the success of the project that had put the country on the enviable global map of electric vehicle assemblers.
Osinbajo, giving a thumbs up for the Nigeria-assembled Hyundai Kona electric car after the test-drive of the vehicle in Abuja, described it as a fantastic machine.
The Vice President made the remarks during his recent tour of made-in-Nigeria products at the opening ceremony of a five-day Nigeria @ 60 Expo being held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
The event was organised by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Nigeria @ 60 in collaboration with Business Visa and Training Co Ltd.
Osinbajo, while speaking with the newsmen the test-drive, said with the exciting introduction of Hyundai Kona electric car in Nigeria, he was hopeful of a bright future for the country.
He said, “A very good drive; fantastic; it just shows what is possible.”
He also said, “I am glad to see that this is an assembled-in-Nigeria electric car.
“You can literally charge it anywhere; I think it is a very fantastic innovation; fantastic product, and I can tell because I drove it.”
A statement by the Stallion Motors said the Stallion Group, Nigeria’s exclusive assembler and distributors of Hyundai brand, took up the challenge of doing something unique without being discouraged by the infrastructural issues in the country and decided to roll out Hyundai Kona, the nation’s first ever Electric Vehicle (EV) in conjugation with Hyundai Motors Nigeria, “purposely to embark on the attitudinal change for a clean environment.”
It stated, “Hyundai Motors Nigeria recognised this paradigm shift in the transportation sector by bringing in electric mobility that is a step towards the same goal.”
It stated that the vehicle was assembled at the Stallion Group’s VON assembly plant at Ojo, Lagos.
It also recalled that the car was launched into the Nigerian market late 2020 and “has since attracted kudos from various government functionaries, including the National Assembly.”

The car, according to the auto assembler, is 100 per cent electric with zero carbon emission.
The Kona, it stated, could go up to a range of 482km with an acceleration of 0-100km in 9.7 seconds on a single battery cycle of a capacity of 64 KWH.
The ease of charging remained unmatched and could be plugged in at home or work for 9.35 hours for a full battery, it added.
Since debuted worldwide, Kona electric has been widely lauded for its class-leading driving range, fast-charging capability, safety and convenience features.
Safety
The firm highlights the safety features of the car, noting that despite being an EV, Kona comes with some of the safety features that are not even available in cars powered by the traditionally known internal combustion engine.
For instance, it notes that aside from multiple safety airbags, the car comes with Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), which uses the car’s front-facing camera and radar to help detect an imminent collision and avoid impact or minimize damage by braking autonomously, made possible by the new Hyundai SmartSense safety technologies.
Kona is also said to have gone through the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) carried out by the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and was awarded the highest safety rating of 5 stars.
“Kona is so smart that it is capable of sensing road markings, using Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), which helps to prevent accidental lane departure and may automatically steer the car if required.

It is said to also come with Driver Attention Warning, which monitors the owner/driver’s driving patterns and even detects drowsy or inattentive driving and alerts the driver with a sound cue and warning message on the instrument panel.
It gave its additional safety technologies as Blind Spot Collision Warning and Rear Cross Traffic Warning.