The expected electrification of Sub-Sahara Africa’s urban paratransit with an electric minibus taxi (eMBT) has received increased attention in energy research and expenditure analyses. In this paper, several long-distance routes between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape in South Africa are assessed for electrification. To mitigate the long charging time of eMBTs, we propose a battery swapping approach in which a trailer acts as a mobile battery bank to the vehicle (eMBT+T); which is to be charged from a solar charging station to reduce emissions. Compared to the current MBTs, the proposed model results in only a 6% trip time increase. Crucially, emissions are reduced by 75%, where a 20% increase is seen when using an eMBT. The results show that a trailer battery enables viable long-distance electrical paratransit, and with the integration of solar power charging, this transition can also be sustainable.

在能源研究和支出分析中，撒哈拉以南非洲城市辅助客运系统与电动小巴出租车 (eMBT) 的预期电气化已受到越来越多的关注。在本文中，对南非西开普省和东开普省之间的几条长途路线进行了电气化评估。为了缓解 eMBT 充电时间长的问题，我们提出了一种电池交换方法，其中拖车充当车辆的移动电池组 (eMBT+T)；将从太阳能充电站充电以减少排放。与当前的主战坦克相比，所提出的模型仅增加了 6% 的行程时间。至关重要的是，排放量减少了 75%，而使用 eMBT 时排放量增加了 20%。结果表明，拖车电池可以实现可行的长途电动辅助运输，