Electric Motorcycle Sales Were Close to 4% of All Motorcycles Sold in Kenya in 2023

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There are over 2 million inner combustion engine bikes in Kenya. Bikes are primarily used as public transport automobiles in Kenya. These bike taxis are popularly referred to as boda bodas. The bike taxi business is a crucial section of Kenya’s financial system. Transitioning this sector to electrical will make an enormous distinction within the pockets of the homeowners of the bikes in addition to the riders. Lots of the startups which might be lively in Kenya’s electrical bike ecosystem are providing revolutionary financing preparations, together with fashions the place one can purchase the bike after which lease the batteries, decreasing the upfront prices. Vary anxiousness fears are additionally eradicated by providing battery swap providers.

It’s also vital to speed up the adoption of electrical motor automobiles in Kenya’s largest car section to cut back emissions. Kenya’s grid is already very clear. Renewables present round 90% of Kenya’s electrical energy technology. By progressively rising the penetration of electrical bikes in Kenya, important financial savings in CO2 emissions will be achieved. This may be achieved by incentivizing purchases of recent electrical motorbikes.

2023 was the primary time the Kenyan bike gross sales market noticed a noticeable improve within the share of electrical bikes within the total new registrations market. In 2023, there have been 70,691 bikes bought in Kenya. 2,557 of those had been electrical. Meaning 3.6% of bikes bought in 2023 in Kenya had been electrical. That’s virtually 4%! Quickly the market share will attain the essential 5%, which is mostly considered because the tipping level indicating the beginning of mass adoption. The share of electrical bikes rose to three.6% in 2023 from 2.8% in 2022 and 0.5% in 2021.

It is very important notice that total gross sales of bikes in Kenya have ben dropping considerably from the report ranges we noticed in 2021, when 285,203 bikes had been bought to 131,513i n 2022 to simply 70,691 in 2023. One of many largest gamers within the Kenyan bike sector, Automotive & Normal Kenya, says its operations in Kenya have been particularly affected by a 77% drop within the total marketplace for bikes since 2022. Automotive & Normal says the common month-to-month gross sales was once about 20,000 models, however now gross sales are hovering round 4,000 models per thirty days. Automotive & Normal attributes this enormous drop in gross sales to decrease client buying energy, which has decreased the day by day utilisation of boda bodas in Kenya, and consequently additionally decreased the day by day unit profitability for bike taxis resulting from increased gas prices in latest instances.

Given their decrease complete value of possession, this might be a key second for electrical bikes in Kenya. Gamers within the electrical bike business may benefit from this and capitalise on decreased demand for the standard ICE bikes by emphasising potential financial savings that might be derived from switching to electrical.

Gross sales of electrical bikes in Kenya have surged from 144 models in 2021 to 2,557 (18x) in 2023 resulting from an rising variety of electrical bikes coming onto the market from varied gamers. There are over 15 startups which might be lively in Kenya’s electrical bikes sector. After a number of years of analysis & improvement and pilot packages, various these corporations are actually within the early phases of commercialising their operations. These corporations are actually feeding the market with a gentle provide of electrical bikes, enabling the expansion of electrical bike market share. One other key improvement is the assist of some firms providing financing for bikes, decreasing the boundaries to adoption for boda boda riders. There’s additionally a rising community of battery swap stations throughout Nairobi for instance, permitting riders to cowl extra areas of town. Fleet operators and worldwide experience hailing corporations have additionally onboarded a whole lot of electrical bikes, boosting adoption. Because the main gamers within the bike sector in Kenya, we anticipate this market share to develop considerably within the close to future.

Photographs: electrical bikes in Nairobi, Kenya, by Remeredzai