Written By: Faith Jemosop
Kenya is spearheading Africa’s electric mobility shift, anchored by rapid expansion in clean power, charging networks, battery‑swap stations, and local manufacturing. With nearly 90% of its electricity from renewable sources, Kenya aims to reduce transport emissions by 32% by 2030. Key infrastructure investments, from grid upgrades to mandated EV‑ready parking, are paving the way for wider adoption of electric buses, motorcycles, and eventually cars.
National Power Grid
At the heart of Kenya’s e‑mobility ambition is a reliable, renewable‑powered grid. Over 90% of electrical generation comes from geothermal, hydro, wind and solar. The transmission company KETRACO is expanding its network with 4,600 km of new lines and 36 substations to ensure 99.7% grid reliability, essential for steady EV charging across urban and rural areas. Additionally, new public‑private policies support investment into transmission infrastructure to serve growing EV demand.
Kenya Power has pledged to allocate 1,100 MW of off‑peak load for electric mobility, to be used in powering buses and motorcycles during cheaper tariff periods.
Charging Network Expansion
Kenya’s EV charging network has grown rapidly, from approximately 67 stations in 2024 to over 200 by early 2025. Kenya Power alone plans to install 45 public EV chargers across six to seven counties ,including Nairobi, Nyeri, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Taita‑Taveta, within the next 12 months. This builds on its existing installations in Nairobi and upcoming chargers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Private operators like Moja EV Kenya, Electric Avenue, EVChaja, and TotalEnergies are building fast‑charging hubs, 50–150 kW DC standard chargers deliver 200–300 km range in 30 minutes, while ultra‑fast 350 kW units cut charging time to around 15 minutes.
Kenya’s National Building Code (2024) mandates that 5% of parking spaces in commercial buildings be EV‑ready, with required plugs, outlets, and connectors pre‑installed. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is preparing national licensing and safety standards for public charging stations, including transformer requirements and workforce certification stipulations.
Battery‑Swapping Infrastructure
Charging infrastructure is complemented by battery‑swapping solutions, particularly for electric motorcycles. Companies like Ampersand and Spiro are leading the field:
- Ampersand pioneered battery swapping in Kenya (and Rwanda), offering a lease‑and‑swap model that reduces operating costs by over one‑third and avoids long charging downtimes; drivers can swap exhausted batteries at exchange stations for fully charged ones.
- Spiro, launched in Kenya in October 2023, now operates over 100 battery‑swap stations across Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Kisumu. It has deployed more than 3,000 electric motorcycles using battery‑as‑a‑service models, making e‑motos around 30% cheaper than gas alternatives.
These networks help alleviate range anxiety and reduce upfront costs for drivers, especially boda‑boda and delivery riders who typically travel 100–120 km daily.
Electric Public Transport: Local Manufacturing and Scale
Public transport electrification is gaining momentum through local assembly and leasing models. BasiGo, founded in Nairobi in 2021, leases electric buses to private operators. Initially using imported parts, since 2023 BasiGo has partnered with Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) to assemble buses domestically, boosting local employment and avoiding import tariffs. By mid‑2023, it had nearly 20 buses in operation and had established a six‑bus charging station in Buruburu powered by renewable energy.
BasiGo has received over 450 orders from Kenyan operators and another 40 from Kigali, with a goal to scale to 1,000 electric buses in coming years, creating hundreds of jobs in assembly, maintenance, and charging infrastructure.
Policy and Regulatory Support: Fueling the Ecosystem
Kenyan authorities have introduced various incentives and policies to accelerate the electric mobility ecosystem:
- Under the 2023 Finance Act, VAT for EVs and components was zero‑rated, and excise duties on fully electric vehicles were reduced from 20% to 10%.
- Kenya aims to reach 5% of new vehicle registrations being electric by 2025, with deployment of over 1,000 EVs to government officials and police to boost visibility.
- The draft National Energy Policy (2024) and National Energy Efficiency Strategy promote integration of renewable energy into transport, national EV targets, and smart grid development.
- The E‑Mobility Taskforce, established in 2023, is responsible for coordinating EV policy, infrastructure standards, and partnerships across public and private sectors.
Challenges and Gaps: What Still Needs Doing
Despite significant progress, several barriers remain:
- High upfront costs of electric vehicles still deter adoption, despite lower lifetime fuel and maintenance costs. Many customers are price‑sensitive, and green premiums remain hard to justify without financing models.
- Grid and rural access gaps: While Nairobi and central counties enjoy reliable electricity, many peri‑urban and rural zones face outages and low access, making EV deployment challenging outside urban hubs.
- Regulatory and technical standard gaps: Although new EPRA guidelines exist, Kenya lacks comprehensive certification, safety, and infrastructure regulations. Investor uncertainty remains a concern without enforceable standards for chargers and batteries.
- Skill shortage: Local manufacturing capacity for both vehicles and batteries is still nascent, with assemblers operating at sub‑optimal capacity. Technical vocational curricula for e‑mobility remain undeveloped.
Also read: Why South Africa’s Eskom is Targeting Mainly Clean Energy by 2040
Kenya’s journey toward widespread electric mobility is well underway, and the linchpin of that journey is infrastructure. With a greening energy grid, fast‑growing charging networks, battery‑swapping solutions, and smart regulations, Kenya is building the ecosystem needed to accelerate adoption.
If challenges around upfront costs, rural grid access, standards and skills can be addressed, Kenya is poised to become an African leader in EV adoption, not just by numbers of vehicles, but by homegrown systems powering a sustainable green transport economy.
Stakeholders now must push toward building rural outlets, investing in local manufacturing and vocational training, and rolling out enforceable policies that bring clarity to investors and consumers alike. Only then can Kenya fully drive the revolution it has begun.
