Electric Vehicles in Kenya

A Nissan Leaf (a fully electric vehicle ) at Two Rivers Mall
A Nissan Leaf (a fully electric vehicle ) at Two Rivers Mall in Nairobi

Will They Populate our Roads any Time from now?

Cars have been an important part of the civilization of the Kenyan population for long. There have been many advances since Ford’s Model T in both technology and comfort. Looking into the future, it is not a matter of if electric vehicles will populate the Kenyan roads but when. The main reason being the fact that most electric vehicles in Kenya are imported. Some of the countries we import the vehicles from are establishing policies that will see the end of the sale of new ICE vehicles in the near future. As a result, we will be forced to adopt these electric vehicles.

Pros and Cons of Owning One in Kenya

There is more to gain than lose in owning an electric vehicle in Kenya. Some of the benefits Include:
Saving money on fuel.
Getting the power when you need it.
Better performance.
Conserving the environment.

For these reasons, hybrid electric vehicles have seen a lot of success in the market. However, the major setbacks to this are the lack of incentives from the government and lack of infrastructure to support the same.

How the Government Promote Electric Vehicles in Kenya

Countries that value the benefits of electric vehicles have invested heavily in the infrastructure that supports electric vehicle like fast electric charging stations. The government in these countries further reduces the taxes on items related to electric vehicles making owning one cheaper.

A Solution to the main challenge in Kenya

However, even with the lack of many public fast-charging stations, level II chargers technology is fast growing and now people are reliably charging from their homes at 4 times the rate of level I. (i.e. it now takes a quarter the time to charge the same battery capacity)

Kenyans are also not sure about the availability of technicians who can handle electric vehicles but times are changing, and that is why we N Seal Auto Garage are here. We have the knowledge, expertise, experience and equipment necessary to work on hybrid and electric vehicles.