The company continues to drive sustainable transportation in Rwanda and Kenya.
Ampersand, Africa’s leading integrated electric motorcycle and transport energy solution, has reached a major milestone in its mission to provide sustainable mobility solutions in Kenya and Rwanda.
Since launching its first electric motorcycles and battery swap stations four years ago, the company now has more than 1,000 commercial use electric motorcycles Rwanda and Kenya. Ampersand plans to reach 3,000 by the end of 2023.
“We are increasing the local production of our battery packs to meet growing client demand for our e-motos and continuing to innovate for a more sustainable public transport option for the East Africa market.” said Alp Tilev, co-founder and CTO of Ampersand.
Through Ampersand’s expanding network of 25 battery-swap stations across Kenya and Rwanda, riders can swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones in only 2 minutes.
The company works exclusively with commercial delivery and taxi motorcycle drivers, who earn 50% more than with petrol bikes due to fuel and maintenance savings, all while reducing harmful carbon emissions.
Ampersand’s focus is on providing the fuel network of the future and working with a variety of motorcycle manufacturers to serve this market.
Its success is partly due to the focus on R&D from day one, being the only company to commercially develop and manufacture battery packs for motorcycles on the ground in Africa, creating green jobs.
By combining its reliable, smart battery pack with its low-cost swap stations and battery fleet software backend, Ampersand riders now spend less per km than on fuel powered motorcycles or any other electric motorcycle on offer.
Transportation is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally. Sustainable mobility for all is one of the United Nations SDGs, meaning that clean transport is essential to meeting the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2050.
In addition to reducing emissions, the co-benefits of electrification include a reduction in air and sound pollution, cost savings to African economies, riders and commuters, and a more resilient transportation economy that is less reliant on volatile energy markets.
“We believe that e-mobility is the future of transportation in Africa, and we are committed to making it accessible to as many people as possible,” said Josh Whale, co-founder and CEO of Ampersand. “Our partnerships with fuel network operators like Total Energies and SP have also been critical to our success, allowing us to expand our network and reach new customers whilst building a low-carbon future for the continent’s existing transport energy infrastructure”
