UNILAG Engineering Students’ Innovation of a Zero Emission Electric Car Sparks Mixed Reactions From Nigerians
Recently, the engineering students from the University of Lagos, commonly known as UNILAG, innovated a zero-emission electric car, an innovation which has caught the attention of many people from far and wide sparking mixed reactions from those in and outside Nigeria.
The car which the students designed from scratch to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions into the environment and reduce the amount of noise usually produced by vehicles in the busy Lagos, got hundreds of thousands talking in the internet with some supporting and encouraging the students and some, on the other hand, poking holes in the whole innovation.
The science behind the UNILAG zero emission vehicle (ZEV 001)
A majority of people commenting on the post made on Africa Global News digital platforms sought to understand how the vehicle works.
According to the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor in Charge of Academics and Research, Prof. Oluwole Familoni, UNILAG ZEV 001 was made in a way that it’ll eliminate the release of carbon dioxide commonly synonymous with internal combustions of normal fuel engines in an effort to contribute towards reducing the menace of global warming.
”In concept, the UNILAG ZEV team developed an adaptive and reprogrammable power train (drive) system. Although the drive train functionality is presently exhibited with six-passenger Sport Utility Shuttle Van platform, it can be reconfigured to support 18-seater commuter bus,” Prof. Familoni said in an interview.
”In its exhibition form, the drive train Energy Management System (EMS) is programmed to deliver ultra-low-power supply to realise maximum range per battery charging cycle at campus shuttling speed of less than 20Km per hour,” he added.
The professor of chemistry added the new innovation at UNILAG is also programmed to adaptively switch from shuttle modes when in highways but still minimize the energy consumption. On highways, UNILAG ZEV oo1 can hit a speed of upto 110km per hour.
The vehicle is made with a “please take me home switch” which warns the driver in case it is almost running out of energy supply.
‘The government has failed the youth in Nigeria‘
In sharply divided opinions, Nigerians took to social media to call out the Buhari-led government “for not supporting talent and research in institutions of higher learning”.
While congratulating the students who were led by Prof. Samson Adeosum from the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, one of the concerned Nigerians said: “One consistently and persistently evil thing about Nigerian government is that it has never encouraged, supported or promoted any form of innovative idea”.
Another one said: “Kudos young engineers. Our leaders are interested in cows, not science and technology”.
Using the OSINT tools and techniques, a deep scan through the comment section in the viral post, shows a people who are calling out their government for not coming through to support innovations or fund research initiatives in universities across Nigeria.
Those calling out the Buhari regime for not supporting research in universities seem to have taken cue from the UNILAG Vice Chancellor who agrees that universities need more funds for research.
Partnering with private entities
Quite a number of Nigerians have encouraged the students to partner with private entities that might be interested in their innovation instead of sitting and waiting for support from the government.
This, they said, it will help in commercializing the project and producing the vehicles in masses.
Which Car?…’not good enough’
A section of Nigerians, however, weren’t impressed with the UNILAG ZEV 001 and wondered what people were celebrating.
While asking the innovators to improve the car, they, particularly, took issue with the body of the car saying it doesn’t look anything close to an innovation made in this century.
According to Prof. Familoni, the process of making the UNILAG ZEV 001 which comes with an on-board auxiliary power supply system, started way back in 2018 and the actualization of the dream car is a testament on UNILAG’s efforts play a pivotal role in preventing the emissions of toxic gas into the environment.
The vehicle uses a refurbished Nickel Hydride battery allowing it to run for at least five kilometers range per charge cycle when on shuttle mode and upto to 350 kilometers when in highway mode.
The UNILAG ZEV is 60% hardware and 100% software home-made.
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