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

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

There are over 2 million internal combustion engine motorcycles in Kenya. Motorcycles are mainly used as public transport vehicles in Kenya. These motorcycle taxis are popularly known as boda bodas. The motorcycle taxi industry is a vital segment of Kenya’s economy. Transitioning this sector to electric will make a huge difference in the pockets of the owners of the bikes as well as the riders. Many of the startups that are active in Kenya’s electric motorcycle ecosystem are offering innovative financing arrangements, including models where one can buy the motorcycle and then rent the batteries, reducing the upfront costs. Range anxiety fears are also eliminated by offering battery swap services.

It is also important to accelerate the adoption of electric motor vehicles in Kenya’s largest vehicle segment to reduce emissions. Kenya’s grid is already very clean. Renewables provide around 90% of Kenya’s electricity generation. By gradually increasing the penetration of electric motorcycles in Kenya, significant savings in CO2 emissions can be achieved. This can be achieved by incentivizing purchases of new electric motorbikes.

2023 was the first time the Kenyan motorcycle sales market saw a noticeable increase in the share of electric motorcycles in the overall new registrations market. In 2023, there were 70,691 motorcycles sold in Kenya. 2,557 of these were electric. That means 3.6% of motorcycles sold in 2023 in Kenya were electric. That is almost 4%! Soon the market share will reach the critical 5%, which is generally viewed as the tipping point indicating the start of mass adoption. The share of electric motorcycles rose to 3.6% in 2023 from 2.8% in 2022 and 0.5% in 2021.

It is important to note that overall sales of motorcycles in Kenya have ben dropping significantly from the record levels we saw in 2021, when 285,203 motorcycles were sold to 131,513i n 2022 to just 70,691 in 2023. One of the largest players in the Kenyan motorcycle sector, Car & General Kenya, says its operations in Kenya have been specifically affected by a 77% drop in the overall market for motorcycles since 2022. Car & General says the average monthly sales used to be about 20,000 units, but now sales are hovering around 4,000 units per month. Car & General attributes this huge drop in sales to lower consumer purchasing power, which has reduced the daily utilisation of boda bodas in Kenya, and consequently also reduced the daily unit profitability for motorcycle taxis due to higher fuel costs in recent times.

Given their lower total cost of ownership, this could be a key moment for electric motorcycles in Kenya. Players in the electric motorcycle industry could take advantage of this and capitalise on reduced demand for the traditional ICE motorcycles by emphasising potential savings that could be derived from switching to electric.

Sales of electric motorcycles in Kenya have surged from 144 units in 2021 to 2,557 (18x) in 2023 due to an increasing number of electric motorcycles coming onto the market from various players. There are over 15 startups that are active in Kenya’s electric motorcycles sector. After several years of research & development and pilot programs, a number of these firms are now in the early stages of commercialising their operations. These firms are now feeding the market with a steady supply of electric motorcycles, enabling the growth of electric motorcycle market share. Another key development is the support of some companies offering financing for motorcycles, lowering the barriers to adoption for boda boda riders. There is also a growing network of battery swap stations all over Nairobi for example, allowing riders to cover more areas of the city. Fleet operators and international ride hailing firms have also onboarded hundreds of electric motorcycles, boosting adoption. As the leading players in the motorcycle sector in Kenya, we expect this market share to grow significantly in the near future.

Images: electric motorcycles in Nairobi, Kenya, by Remeredzai