Kenyan e-bike riders call for battery network reforms

For weeks, riders of electric motorcycles in Kenya have pressed companies to loosen how batteries and charging access work across the fast-growing e-mobility market. The push centers on battery-swap networks—stations where riders exchange drained batteries for charged ones in minutes—and on calls for those systems to work across different brands rather than only within a single manufacturer’s ecosystem.

Francis Kibe Njeri, a Kenyan podcaster and radio presenter, used social media to highlight concerns he said riders across the sector face. In his posts, Njeri pointed to two issues: batteries that are not interoperable across networks and motorcycles that he said can be remotely disabled after periods of inactivity, a combination he argued can strand people who depend on the vehicles for work.

Njeri also tied the interoperability argument to ownership and access. He said riders are effectively forced to buy the motorcycles while the battery remains under the manufacturer’s control, leaving riders dependent on that company’s stations and without the ability to charge at home using the same battery.

The argument has spilled beyond online campaigns. In November, hundreds of e-bike riders in Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa chanted and held placards demanding more battery-swap stations and open access across networks, according to the reporting. Oscar Okite, a Nairobi-based rider who said he adopted e-bikes for lower operating costs, described the stakes of uneven access to swap sites—saying he loses up to 500 Kenyan shillings ($4.50) every time he cannot find a swap point and has to sit waiting.

The system riders are running into is often described as vertically integrated: companies design vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure to function within a single brand’s ecosystem. Even as electric mobility bikes expand in Africa, the reporting says battery-swapping networks remain tied to proprietary technologies, creating what critics describe as fragmented access that hinders growth.

Finance and industry officials say the problem is not simply the number of stations but whether a station can serve riders using different battery packs. Eric Tsui, a commercial manager at Watu Africa, said the lack of interoperability across charging and battery-swapping stations remains a major bottleneck to scaling the sector. From a financing and consumer perspective, Tsui said the worst outcome is building swap stations that cannot serve all riders, and he called for interoperability so batteries can be charged or swapped at any station regardless of the operator.

Companies also argue that sharing swap infrastructure brings substantial operational challenges. Building a network involves more than hardware; it includes land, security, software systems and ongoing maintenance, and companies typically must fund large investments before receiving returns. Standardizing battery sizes, safety protocols and payment systems across different firms, the reporting said, requires complex technical and commercial negotiations.

Spiro’s position illustrates the balance between sharing and safety. Spiro CEO Kaushik Burman said he is open to network sharing if it is done safely, pointing to battery safety standards set by Singapore and India. He said Spiro welcomes “manufacturers who will want to build e-bikes that can run on our battery system,” adding that before allowing such makers in, the company would integrate, test and certify. Burman said openly allowing any battery to enter any swap station without integration would be “a recipe for disaster” that Spiro cannot accept.

There are also signs, the reporting said, that the interoperability debate is beginning to change the market’s direction. Ampersand announced plans in January to extend its battery-swap network to other electric motorcycle makers, describing it as the first such system in Africa. Ampersand CEO Josh Whale said the company’s approach is an open platform intended to let more manufacturers enter the market without needing to build separate charging infrastructure, and he positioned Ampersand as a “fuel station” model in which compatible bikes can plug into the network if their battery packs meet quality and safety standards.

Whale said e-bikes from other companies—such as Wylex Mobility—can tap into Ampersand’s network in Kenya and Rwanda, expanding access for riders and operators. Riders who have argued for reform say the changes are overdue, noting that limited battery-swap options can affect whether they can take rides or deliveries that arise when their batteries are low. Kevin Macharia, a Nairobi rider, said he sometimes declines ride and delivery requests when his charge is low out of fear of venturing too far from a swap station, adding that the situation hurts his business.

The reporting also cited the scale of existing infrastructure and the scale of the sector’s expansion. Spiro, it said, operates more than 1,200 battery charging and swap stations and has deployed about 60,000 electric motorcycles, citing the company’s most recent public filing in late 2024. The broader ecosystem, as described by the Africa E-mobility Alliance, includes dozens of e-mobility firms across multiple regions, with East Africa leading on both the number of companies and investment levels as of September.