Spiro to build solar swapping stations at Catholic churches

From the newsletter

EV company Spiro is set to establish solar-powered battery swapping stations at Catholic churches across Kenya. The deal is the first of its kind between the church and an EV company in Kenya. Spiro says the rollout of the stations will be done in phases. This will add to the dozens of grid-tied swapping stations that Spiro has built in major towns, mainly Nairobi. 

• The Catholic Church is the largest in Kenya, with over 1,170 parishes and more than 5,830 mission stations in the country. This countrywide presence will fast-track Spiro’s swapping station network in Kenya and serve thousands of riders.  

• Spiro is betting on solar swapping stations to reduce energy costs. It is in eight countries, has already established a solar-powered swapping station in Nigeria and aims to replicate this in its other markets. 

More details

• Spiro has grown quickly since its humble beginnings in Benin and Togo three years ago to become Africa’s largest electric motorcycle company. It has since expanded to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Cameroon and Rwanda. It has sold over 35,000 electric motorcycles and built over 1,000 swapping stations. These stations run on grid-supplied electricity, but Spiro wants to build new stations that run on solar energy.  

• “Rolling out solar-powered swap stations marks a new chapter in Kenya’s clean mobility journey. By combining renewable energy with our battery swapping technology and working hand in hand with the Catholic Church, we are ensuring that riders can power their journeys affordably,” said Spiro Kenya Country Head Kshitij Sharma. 

• Spiro’s collaboration with the Catholic Church, which has a strong presence across Africa with millions of members, is unprecedented. There are thousands of churches across the continent, and this could open up future collaborations with other churches. Building swapping stations at churches will make swapping easily accessible, especially in rural areas. 

• Electric motorcycle sales in Kenya are booming, and demand is higher than supply. Companies are racing to build charging and swapping stations to support the thousands of customers that have switched to electric motorbikes, especially in major towns. In Kenya, besides Spiro, companies like Roam Electric, Zeno, Ampersand and ARC Ride are investing heavily in swapping infrastructure. This is key as most of the companies mainly sell motorcycles without the batteries which are provided as a service to buyers. 

• Solar-powered stations are becoming an attractive option for EV companies to reduce their energy costs. To reduce their upfront investment, some are partnering with solar energy providers. For example, Ampersand signed a deal with CrossBoundary Energy in 2024 which will set up a 37kWp solar PV system and sell the electricity to Ampersand at a negotiated tariff. CrossBoundary says its solution provides an off balance sheet option that can reduce operating costs for electric two-wheeler providers. 

• The number of charging and swapping stations in Kenya remains small despite growing EV sales. This has been a major headache, especially for motorcycle taxi riders who are used to the convenience of fueling at the thousands of fuel service stations in the country. However, there is cause for optimism as EV charging companies have raised millions of dollars in recent months from investors to scale their infrastructure. 

Our take

• Spiro’s partnership with the Catholic Church will be particularly impactful in rural areas that are currently underserved by EV infrastructure. It will help the company to overcome a major barrier to EV adoption and could significantly boost sales of electric motorcycles outside of major cities. 

• Leveraging a non-traditional partner like the Catholic Church to expand its network creates a new and potentially highly effective business model for the African market. This success could prompt other EV companies, like Roam, Ampersand, and Zeno, to pursue similar partnerships with large, established institutions. 

• The partnership could set a new industry standard in Kenya, especially for companies seeking to expand into areas with unreliable grid access. The success of Spiro and other companies like Ampersand in using solar energy could lead to a shift away from reliance on grid-tied stations and toward hybrid or fully solar-powered stations.