Consumer View: Why I won’t buy an electric motorcycle just yet

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Electric motorcycles are quickly becoming popular in Africa, saving riders up to a third of their daily operational costs compared to petrol-powered motorcycles. In this week’s Consumer View, we spotlight Abiud Nyakundi, who rides a petrol motorcycle in Kenya. In an interview with Mobility Rising, he reveals why he is reluctant to switch to an electric one.

• For Mr Nyakundi, the limited range of electric motorcycles is the biggest drawback. He prefers his petrol motorcycle, which he uses to travel over long distances, including to his rural home which is hundreds of kilometres from Nairobi. 

• He is open to switching to an electric motorcycle in future, but for that to happen, the main limitations, especially the limited driving range, have to be fixed. In the meantime, prefers the reliability of his petrol motorcycle. 

More details

Mr Nyakundi is the chairman of a motorcycle riders association in South B, a neighbourhood in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. He has been carrying passengers and goods on his motorcycle for a living since 2007. All this time, he has been using a petrol motorcycle, but has been watching on the sidelines as some of his colleagues switched to electric motorcycles, which are becoming popular in Kenya. 

When electric motorcycles were first introduced in Kenya a few years ago, he was part of a team of riders that were taken to an exhibition hosted by a Chinese firm to witness how they operate.

“When I saw how its braking system works, I thought to myself that it wouldn’t work,” Mr Nyakundi remembers.  

A lot has happened since then, with new and improved electric motorcycle models being introduced in Kenya annually. But this has not changed his perception about them, at least not yet. His main complaint about electric motorcycles is their limited range. This is especially problematic in Nairobi, where charging and swapping stations are still scarce.

“This fuel powered motorbike operates over long distances; I can go anywhere in Nairobi. Imagine if there is a customer who was running their errands or another one who is rushing somewhere and I told them to wait for you to charge or switch the battery,” he says. 

Mr Nyakundi says that currently, there are only a few charged batteries available at the swapping stations yet the number of customers is high, leading to long queues. “As a result, the customer will board another motorcycle and you will lose the money.  That is money that you need to cater for your needs like paying tuition for your kids, among other needs.”

He says that having used a petrol motorcycle for many years, he is familiar with it, and knows what he needs to do when it needs repairs, and how much he will spend. For electric motorcycles, he is still not sure.

“You know we are used to this one (fuel-powered motorcycle) when it gets damaged, I know what the issue is but for the electric one, I don’t know. Also, sometimes Nairobi is flooded and it’s not possible to ride it (an electric motorcycle) in floods. We don’t know if that motor can work in floods. It can stop when it’s raining and you have to find a shelter but mine can still pass in floods,” says Mr Nyakundi. 

At the same time, he has observed from his colleagues that electric motorcycles can’t carry heavy loads or navigate treacherous terrains, which are common in Africa. Further, battery swapping stations do not operate 24 hours, which means the riders cannot operate at night. He also worries about reliability challenges when operating in risky areas.

However, all is not doom and gloom for electric motorcycles. Mr Nyakundi reveals that besides the cost savings that electric motorcycle riders enjoy, they are also less of a target for Nairobi’s notorious motorcycle thieves, who mainly target petrol motorcycles because they are easy to use and sell to third parties quickly. Electric motorcycles can also be easily traced.

He would like to switch to an electric motorcycle in future once major improvements are made to make it cheaper and more reliable. For instance, he would like electric motorcycle manufacturers to make batteries that can be recharged at home without going to the swapping station. He also wants the charge to last longer.

“The distance it covers when the battery is fully charged is said to be 70 km. But we surpass that distance here in Nairobi. We cover a long distance in our daily operations.”