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September 2nd, 2020 by Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai
There are thousands and thousands of bikes on the street in East Africa. Driving round Nairobi, one can’t miss the swarm of bike taxis referred to as Boda Bodas. The rise and rise of the Boda Boda business has contributed considerably to the expansion of bike registrations in Kenya. Bike registrations began to develop considerably in Kenya in 2007. 16,293 bikes have been registered in 2007 and 140,215 bikes have been registered in 2011.
Registrations began to indicate robust development once more from 2017, with 186,434 bikes registered in that yr. A file 210,103 bikes have been registered in 2019, bringing the full variety of registered bikes since 1968 to over 1.6 million. This quantity is anticipated to continue to grow exponentially as demand soars as a result of development of the on-demand supply market in addition to the bike taxi industry. The bike taxi business can be rising throughout the area in neighboring Tanzania, Uganda, the DRC, and Rwanda.
Electrical bike
Kimosop Chepkoit needed to get in on this Boda Boda motion and determined to make use of his financial savings to start out a bike leasing agency in Nairobi. He began off leasing the favored ICE bikes such because the 150 CC TVS and the Bajaj Boxer. He managed to develop his fleet of bikes to 75. He put in monitoring gadgets on the bikes for safety functions so he would know the place his bikes have been always.
Electrical bike
He then began to get fascinated with electrical bikes and began to ask round to get some insights on how the market would reply to electrical bikes. The one query he saved getting was, “How far are you able to go on one cost?” Among the suggestions was a bit destructive, however he didn’t let the FUD (Concern, Uncertainty, and Doubt) get to him. As an alternative he realized that he had a fleet of 75 bikes already on the street with monitoring gadgets that was only a gold mine of actual information. He then began to research that information and rider habits extra intently.
“We aggregated information from sensors put in in over 70 combustion engine Boda Bodas for a interval of 1 yr. This enabled us to totally perceive the habits of bike taxi riders in addition to the bike utilization. We gathered information resembling each day mileage, common speeds, gas consumption, common distance per journey, and hours of operation. We discovered that the majority journeys vary from 2 to 10 km and 90% of the time riders use the identical routes on daily basis.”
“This enabled us to construct our product from a degree of data. We then partnered with a Chinese language agency to make an electrical bike constructed to our specs and tailored to go well with the environment. After a 5-month pilot of the Ecobodaa electrical bike we’re proud to say that we have now a product that we consider will begin an e-mobility revolution in the commonest mode of final mile transport in East Africa,” says Kimosop, founder and CEO of Ecobodaa.
“Our preliminary concern was that we might be inconveniencing the riders by having them swap greater than twice a day for longer journeys, however from the GPS information, we realized that the riders go to petrol stations 2-4 occasions a day to fill small quantities of gas at a time since they don’t have cash to do a full tank directly. This knowledgeable our selection for a battery which can provide them greater than 120 km on 2 swaps at an inexpensive price (1 swap prices 0.8 {dollars}).”
“For the reason that riders often return again to the identical passenger pickup factors, it’s simple to deal with the battery vary downside by constructing swap stations on these routes. From our prototype, we have now been capable of save our riders 36% on each day gas spend, over 75% on repairs and 90% on servicing for over a interval of three months. These are unimaginable financial savings for our purchasers.”
Ecobodaa’s electrical bike makes use of LiNiMnCoO2 cells. “From our area assessments, we have now been capable of obtain 75km on one cost with 120kg load, which is in regards to the common weight of two individuals.”
Electrical bike charging port
Bike taxis are probably the most most well-liked mode of last-mile connectivity in East Africa. Sadly, bike taxis in Africa’s city cities are one of many primary sources of air pollution and chaos on the roads. By constructing a product that reduces the rider’s bills by way of upkeep, fueling, and asset acquisition of the bike taxis, Ecobodaa hopes to construct a extra resilient and sustainable city mobility answer.
Kenya’s grid is already powered by a technology combine that’s 93% renewable due to vital contributions from geothermal, hydropower, wind, and a few utility-scale photo voltaic crops. And since 39% of CO2 emissions in Kenya are from the transport sector, the transition to electromobility is bound to be the most effective path to decreasing these emissions.
Kimosop and his co-founder Steve Juma have adopted the confirmed PayGo mannequin adopted from the small house photo voltaic business to assist catalyze adoption.
Ecobodaa is obtainable by means of a PAY-AS-YOU-RIDE mannequin the place the riders will solely pay a ten% deposit after which pay the reminder by means of each day or weekly M-PESA remittances. “This manner we clear up the issue dealing with many youths and ladies, which is entry to capital. The funds are made for a interval of 18 months, after which they get to personal the Ecobodaa.”
The corporate is beginning with the under-served Kibera, certainly one of sub-Saharan Africa’s greatest casual settlements. “We’re at present rolling out battery swap stations in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum, in readiness for our launch in late October. Battery swaps might be billed primarily based on the proportion of energy utilized by the rider. As a method to launch and serve this under-served space, we have now additionally shortlisted, vetted, and skilled girls Boda Boda riders in Kibera who will then profit from our preliminary batch of Ecobodaas.”
A number of startups in East Africa want to expedite the transition to electromobility. These embrace Ampersand in Rwanda, Bodawerk in Uganda, Fika Mobility, and now Ecobodaa. The electrical bike business within the area is shaping up fairly properly and we hope all these startups get to scale shortly to faucet into this big alternative.
All photos courtesy of Ecobodaa
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In regards to the Writer
Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai has been fascinated with batteries since he was in main faculty. As a part of his Excessive College Physics class he had to decide on an elective course. He picked the renewable vitality course and he has been hooked ever since.
At college he continued to discover supplies with purposes within the vitality house and ending up doing a PhD involving the research of radiation injury in Excessive Temperature Fuel Cooled Nuclear Reactors. He has since transitioned to work within the Photo voltaic and Storage business and his love for batteries has pushed him to obsess about electrical automobiles.
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