Moses Lugalia has started using an electric motorbike instead of a petrol one as Kenya’s electric vehicle movement grows.
The main reason the 27-year-old motorbike taxi rider wants to switch to an electric bike is to save money as fuel prices continue to go up.
Motorbike taxis are very common in Kenya and other African countries because they are cheaper than cars and can be better for getting around in the heavy traffic in Nairobi.
Mr Lugalia has been driving a motorbike taxi in Nairobi for five years, taking people and things to different places.
He used to spend about 1,000 Kenyan shillings per day, which is a little over $6 or £5, on fuel for his petrol bike.
Nairobi drivers usually make around $10-15 every day, according to the Boda-Boda Association of the country.
Ever since he started using an electric system, Mr. Lugalia says he only spends $1. 42 This means he is making more money and it makes him really happy.
“Since petrol is expensive, I can save a lot by using my electric bike,” Mr. Lugalia said happily.
Instead of putting petrol in his bike, Mr. Lugalia now changes the electric battery once or twice a day at one of the many swap stations in Nairobi. A full battery will let him drive for about 80km (50 miles), which is almost a whole day’s work.
“Mr Lugalia says that electricity is the way forward for Kenya,” he said to the media.
The Kenyan government also believes so. William Ruto, the President, started a national program for using electric vehicles on 1 September 2023.
Motorbikes and tuk-tuks are being used to make transportation more eco-friendly and reduce pollution in the air.
The government wants boda-boda drivers to consider using cheaper fuel to save money.
In Kenya, there are around three million boda-boda riders, and the UN thinks that about five million people rely on their money.
Riding a boda-boda is a good, quick, and cheap way to travel.
Many motorcycles are old, not taken care of, and create a lot of pollution. Although they don’t produce as much carbon dioxide as cars, they release a lot of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, which can hurt the air and the climate.
Nairobi is one of the busiest cities in the world with a lot of traffic. During busy times, the number of people in the city goes up from 4. 5 million to over six million.
The traffic jams every day can be really bad for people who travel to work – the vehicles make about 40% of Nairobi’s dirty air, and about 20% of the world’s pollution that makes the Earth warmer, according to the Clean Air Fund.
Other big reasons for climate change are cutting down trees, farming, making things in factories, and burning trash in the open.
Africa doesn’t produce a lot of greenhouse gases, only about 2% to 3% of the world’s total. But it is affected the most by climate change, according to the UN Environment Programme.
However, the Kenyan government believes that moving towards eco-friendly transportation is important in order to help achieve its climate targets. It aims to have over 200,000 electric bikes on the streets by the end of 2024.
E-bikes usually release 75% fewer harmful gases into the air.
Only 2,000 boda-boda drivers have changed from using petrol to using electric power.
“Kenya is a great place for electric motorbikes to be sold. ” About 85% of the electricity comes from sources that can be renewed like water, sun, heat from the earth, and wind.
In the past few years, Kenya has had very bad droughts, which have affected its hydro-power. But there is a lot of potential to increase its use of geothermal, solar, and wind energy.
A few new companies in Kenya have started making and selling electric motorcycles in the last three years.
They are working with lenders to provide affordable loans, so boda-boda drivers can buy their own motorcycles.
Mr Lugalia sold his old gas bike and used some of the money to put a deposit on an electric bike. Then he paid the remaining $1,500 in small payments every day for a year.
He fully owns the bike, but not the battery.
“That wouldn’t be a smart decision for the business,” says Steve Juma, co-founder of the electric bike company Ecobodaa, because the battery is the priciest part of an electric bike.
It would nearly double the price.
The sellers still own the batteries and have made many places in the city where you can swap them, like in malls, gas stations, and fast food places.
Mr Lugalia says he can easily find a place to switch batteries. He uses an app on his phone to open a cabinet. Then, he puts his used battery in a locker and gets a new fully charged one from a different locker.
But if you leave the city, things are different. Many boda-boda drivers I talked to in Nairobi are not interested in going outside the city because it’s not worth it for them.
“I’m not ready to use green energy because I can’t go to a place where I can’t charge the battery,” a man said.
Some people didn’t want electric bikes because they thought they cost more than petrol ones. Some people think that the distance an electric bike can go – between 60 and 80 kilometers – is not enough.
The government wants to replace traditional boda-bodas with e-motorcycles in Kenya to make the streets quieter.
The electric vehicle infrastructure is not very developed outside of Nairobi, so there is a lot of work still to be done.
The government thinks that businesses, which are already investing in Nairobi, can also play an important role in other places.
“We believe that if we improve the roads and buildings in Nairobi, more investors will want to invest there,” said Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transport, Kipchumba Murkomen, in an interview with the BBC.
Some companies have already said they will do big things in the future.
Masalule Kituyi from Roam said his company will make 8,000 electric motorcycles next year.
Spiro, a company that works in some African countries, wants to build 3,000 places in Kenya where people can charge or swap their batteries.
In 2024, a Nairobi start-up called Arc-Ride plans to make 1,000 electric cars and create over 300 places to charge their batteries in Nairobi.
Only 1% of the people who drive in the industry are women, but Arc-Ride thinks electric bikes could get more women to join. Some people have been asked to try out their new e-boda motorcycles, and Carol Kamal is one of them.
She learned about news, but couldn’t find a job. So, she became a boda-boda driver instead.
She really liked the electric boda-boda because it was quiet and worked well. Now she is saving money to buy one.