Spiro electric motorcycle sales hit 35,000 units

From the newsletter

Electric motorcycle company Spiro has sold more than 35,000 vehicles in eight markets since its launch in 2022, the company’s CEO Kaushik Burman told Mobility Rising in an interview on Tuesday. Spiro’s biggest markets are Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Last month it entered Tanzania and Cameroon to accelerate sales further.

• Spiro’s sales volume highlights the demand for electric motorcycles in Africa. This has attracted dozens of new startups to join the sector recently.

• Electric motorcycles help riders cut costs by up to 30% compared to fuel motorcycles. Vehicles prices are also dropping steadily, widening the pool of buyers. 

More details

• Spiro began operations in Benin and Togo in 2022 before quickly expanding to eight more countries. The company is gradually growing its production capacity to meet increased demand for electric motorcycles, with plans to eventually expand to North Africa and Southern Africa.  

• “We are the fastest growing electric mobility company in Africa but most importantly we are the largest battery swap operator in Africa with over now close to 550 battery swapping stations. We have crossed close to about 20 million battery swaps across 35,000 bikes which we have got into the market,” said Mr Burman.

• The majority of electric motorcycle companies in Africa operate in a single market. But Spiro has chosen aggressive expansion, and has raised a total of $120 million in funding so far to fuel its expansion. However, some startups with continental ambitions are emerging. Zeno is one of them. The company launched in India last month and launched in East Africa this week from where it hopes to expand across Africa.

• Electric motorcycle companies are currently engaging in an innovation war to win over customers. They are spending heavily on research and development, aiming to create the ideal motorcycle for the African markets. Besides Zeno, we have seen the likes of Zembo, Ampersand and Roam launch new models recently, promising major improvements on speed, load capacity, range and other features. 

• There more than 27 million motorcycles registered in sub-Saharan Africa, out of which over 80% used for taxi or delivery services. Only a tiny proportion of these are electric. But the shift to electric motorcycles is promising to be transformative for the sector, which is projected to grow to $5 billion by 2027.

• However, in addition to the high cost of buying electric motorcycles, the lack of sufficient charging and swapping stations remains a major stumbling block for adoption. To overcome this, startups like Spiro, ARC Ride and Roam are investing significantly in battery swapping stations and solar-powered charging systems. 

Our take

• Electric motorcycles sales are skyrocketing, but lower purchase prices would grow sales faster. Lowering this cost calls for collaboration between governments and private players to scale pay-as-you-go, lease-to-own, and fleet financing models to make them more affordable. 

• African policymakers should work toward interoperability standards for batteries and swap stations to avoid a fragmented ecosystem and support nationwide rollout. This will make it easier for investors to establish charging infrastructure. 

• As Africa’s electric motorcycle industry grows, there is potential for further localisation, including the development of local component manufacturing, as the market matures and demand for electric mobility solutions continues to surge across Africa.