Indian EV Infrastructure Firm, Vivo Energy, Launch Battery Swapping Network in Kenya

SUN Mobility, an Indian EV infrastructure company, has rolled out a battery-swapping network in Kenya, its first market in a planned African expansion that could eventually put electric vehicles on the same service-station network now dominated by petrol and diesel. 

• The company, in partnership with Vivo Energy, has 35 swapping stations operating in Nairobi and Mombasa. 
• The stations are designed to serve electric motorcycles, scooters, passenger tuk-tuks, and cargo three-wheelers from different manufacturers, rather than locking riders into a single vehicle brand.
• Instead of requiring each electric-vehicle maker to build its own battery infrastructure, SUN Mobility operates the batteries and swapping stations as a shared network where different riders can exchange depleted batteries for charged ones rather than waiting for a vehicle to recharge.

“We are giving riders greater choice, fleet operators more flexibility and financiers greater confidence that the vehicles they finance will remain supported by a reliable, independently operated battery-swapping network. Kenya is just the beginning of our long-term vision to build Africa's largest universal battery swapping network for electric mobility," said Ajay Goel, SUN Mobility's Co-Founder and CEO International Business.

SUN Mobility says its system can reduce running costs by 20% compared with petrol vehicles for users travelling about 100 kilometres a day, with the saving rising to 35% at 150 kilometres. Those economics make battery swapping more consequential for high-mileage commercial vehicles than for private motorists, whose vehicles spend much of the day idle.

The rollout also gives the company access to Vivo Energy's distribution network. The Shell and Engen fuel-station operator plans to extend the partnership across its African footprint of more than 4,200 stations in 29 countries, turning some conventional forecourts into charging and battery-exchange locations. The arrangement offers a way to add an electric-mobility business to existing real estate and customer traffic without having to abandon the fuel-station model that has underpinned its African operations.

“SUN Mobility's model aligns closely with our Shell service station network. Much like we serve vehicles across different brands and categories through our shared refuelling network, SUN Mobility's open-architecture battery swapping network can support multiple electric vehicle manufacturers and vehicle types through one common network,” said Hans Paulsen, EVP East & South – Africa at Vivo Energy.

SUN's Goals

SUN Mobility is targeting more than 160,000 vehicles and 2,500 swapping stations across Africa over the next five years. Kenya will be a test of whether a shared battery infrastructure can be expanded across countries with different vehicle fleets, regulations, and electricity markets.