Prototype implementation and experimental validation of an electric Suzuki Super Carry conversion for rural Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper presents the prototype implementation and experimental evaluation of an electric Suzuki Super Carry conversion developed for light-duty rural mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa. The donor vehicle was converted from internal combustion to battery-electric propulsion using a central-motor rear-wheel-drive layout, three series-connected lithium iron phosphate battery packs, a high-voltage power distribution unit, and a low-voltage control architecture based on a vehicle control unit communicating over CAN. Custom mechanical and electrical integration was required to package the traction system within the existing chassis, while battery dimensions necessitated load-bed mounting. The completed vehicle achieved a kerb mass of 1270 kg, increasing vehicle mass by 420 kg and reducing payload capacity from 750 kg to 330 kg. Experimental vehicle data were used to calibrate drivetrain losses and road-load parameters before validating the model against measured highway, urban, and dirt-road drive cycles. The drivetrain-loss model achieved an 𝑅 2 of 0.978, while paved-road calibration yielded 𝐶 𝑑 = 0.548 and 𝐶 𝑟𝑟 = 0.0204. Across the three validation cycles, speed tracking exceeded 𝑅 2 = 0.997, and cumulative energy-efficiency errors were 0.12%, 9.77%, and 0.47% for the highway, urban, and dirt-road cycles, respectively. The strongest agreement was obtained for the highway and dirt-road cases, while the urban cycle showed lower accuracy because of low-speed sensitivity and repeated transients. The results demonstrate that the conversion is technically feasible and that the realised vehicle behaviour can be reproduced with good accuracy under both paved and unpaved operating conditions. At the same time, the study highlights the practical trade-offs of retrofit electrification for rural SSA, particularly battery-packaging constraints and reduced payload, and provides an experimentally grounded benchmark for future light-duty EV conversions.