- This is the region’s largest-ever shipment of electric buses and marks the launch of BasiGo’s commercial phase after a very successful 6-month pilot program.
- BasiGo aims to assemble over 1,000 electric buses in Kenya and deploy them by the end of 2025. The BYD K6’s motor has a maximum power of 180kW and a maximum torque of 1500Nm. Its range of over 200 km should appeal to operators in Kenya’s urban public transport sector.
15 BYD K6 electric buses arrived in Mombasa on the ship Morning Christina last month. This is the region’s largest-ever shipment of electric buses and marks the launch of BasiGo’s commercial phase after a very successful 6-month pilot program. BasiGo now has 17 electric buses in total in Kenya. The 15 new buses have arrived partially assembled and will be taken to Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) in Mombasa for final assembly and finishing. AVA is a member of SimbaCorp, and its facilities are designed for an output of 30,000 units per year. AVA’s plant is located at Miritini in Mombasa County. It currently assembles around 4,000 vehicles yearly for world-leading brands, including Fuso, Toyota, Proton, Mahindra, Hino, Scania, Tata, Bieben, Volvo, and Bajaj.
BasiGo aims to assemble over 1,000 electric buses in Kenya and deploy them by the end of 2025. The BYD K6’s motor has a maximum power of 180kW and a maximum torque of 1500Nm. Its range of over 200 km should appeal to operators in Kenya’s urban public transport sector. The favourable features have raised the demand for these vehicles, with over 100 requests for these buses received already. Also, In March, Kenya Power acting CEO Rosemary Oduor said, “Kenya Power can supply electricity to charge 50,000 buses and two million motorcycles during off-peak hours.” It’s really good to see that great progress is being made in Kenya’s electric bus adoption programs.
The government of Kenya has committed to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to address the growing climate crisis. With over 90% of Kenya’s electricity coming from renewables, shifting the public transport sector away from imported fossil fuels to domestically produced clean energy represents a key pathway for achieving this climate target. Also, Moses Nderitu, Chief Revenue Officer at BasiGo, said, “Finishing the assembly of these buses here in Kenya is an important step in demonstrating that these new electric vehicles can be manufactured locally. Starting next year, all-electric buses that BasiGo delivers to customers will be locally assembled here in Kenya.”