The first electric bus from the Swedish-Kenyan EV startup, resources, has arrived on Kenya’s roads, marking the beginning of the company’s foray into the mass transit industry. Opibus first announced plans to introduce electric buses for public transport last year when it raised $7.5 million in a pre-Series A round.
The startup is now running a pilot project to prepare for the commercial rollout of electric buses in Kenya later this year and across Africa by the end of 2023.
Opibus has spent the last five years future-proofing existing petrol and diesel vehicles by converting them to electric vehicles. Electric vehicles offer a number of advantages, including lower transport costs and zero CO2 emissions. The startup, founded in 2017 by Gardler, Filip Lövström and Mikael Gånge, has so far converted over 170 vehicles for various clients, including mining companies and tour operators.
The company is now slowly shifting to building electric vehicles and supporting infrastructure such as public charging stations. Brand new Opibus electric buses cost $100,000 and $60,000 for conversions (which the startup is using in the pilot program).
“In this first year we will be commercially testing 10 buses in Nairobi to ensure the product is a fit and optimized for usage patterns. Once we receive this valuable feedback, we will make the necessary changes and prepare all of our production partners to scale the rollout as soon as possible,” Opibus Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer Albin Wilson told TechCrunch.
Opibus specializes in the manufacture of electric buses and motorcycles. Photo credit: resources
Opibus says its vehicles are engineered and built locally, giving them a competitive advantage in the form of a lower price point when they go to market. In addition, local production means that production can be tailored to the needs of the local market.
“Our strategy is to design and develop a bus that is competitively priced, durable and accessible to this region… We are building a product that will scale rapidly and leverage global and local manufacturers. This means that our design can easily be implemented across the African continent as it is a product that is tailored to the use case and is very cost effective,” said Wilson.
The startup is now eyeing the rest of Africa through partnerships that will drive EV adoption across the continent.
For example, Uber’s partnership with Opibus, announced last month, envisions the deployment of up to 3,000 electric motorcycles made by the startup across Africa by 2022. Motorbikes under Uber are used as taxis and for deliveries in the different markets.
The EV sector in Kenya is thriving and has attracted new players in recent years including BasiGo, which debuted in Kenya last November. BasiGO, which recently imported two EV mass transit buses for its pilot project, plans to sell locally assembled electric buses that use parts from Chinese EV maker BYD Automotive. The BasiGo buses are available with 25 and 36 seats and a range of around 250 kilometers, while Opibus’s are available with 51 seats and a range of 120 kilometers.
