Early this year, Spiro revealed a plan to achieve full production of 50,000 electric motorcycles for the roads in Kenya. But that momentum appears to be experiencing some hurdles, with riders dissatisfied with the startup’s battery swap system.
In the last week, riders have voiced their concerns about waiting for hours for battery swaps to be fulfilled. One exhausted rider shared on social media that they had waited on Friday from around 9am, and by 12 pm there was still no sign of getting a recharged battery.
In a video circulated on Facebook, riders were seen frustrated in the face of unhelpful battery swap station assistants who could no longer help.
Spiro prides itself as the biggest ev motorbike vendor in Kenya, with the Deputy Country Head of Spiro Kenya, Raymond Kitunga, revealing to The Kenyan Wall Street last year that the company had sold 1,500 units in the preceding 10 months. By December 2025, there were approximately 7,500 Spiro electric motorbikes on the Kenyan roads.
It’s assembly plant however has a production capacity of 50,000 unit in a year, a figure the company is working to maximize. However, the biggest challenge remains the availability and accessibility of swap stations. Spiro as at the time of writing this article has 200 battery swap stations, with plans underway to increase them to over 1,000.
The company is now feeling the heat on the dearth of recharge infrastructure, as riders become more frustrated and there was talk of a demo on December 15 if the company did not address their issues.
I reached out to Kitunga about the current predicament but haven’t received any communication so far.
During my research, I also came across a damning revelation that hadn’t crossed my mind: there are allegations that Spiro automatically switches off its battery/motorbike if it detects that it is dormant for a particular period. Switching it back on requires a rider to get the bike to a Spiro station. It is one of the issues I sought clarification on from Kitunga.
Spiro’s business model combines electric motorcycles with an innovative battery‑as‑a‑service approach. Riders subscribe to battery usage and exchange depleted units at automated or staffed swap stations “in minutes”.
EV companies for two/three wheelers and buses are considering collaboration to address the emerging battery swap challenges by opening up their infrastructure to be company-agnostic. Ampersand, which started on its own as an electric bike assembler has quickly transformed into a battery infrastructure and energy company. The company officially opened its infrastructure for use by other ev makers, welcoming newly launched Wylex onboard as its first collaborator.
While Spiro and other startups may prefer to continue using only their branded stations, massive expansion will ensure this problem persists. In 2025, Spiro completed a significant funding round, securing $100 million in new equity financing led by the Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), with contributions from other investors. This injection represents one of the largest capital raises in Africa’s electric mobility sector, bringing Spiro’s total funding — including past debt and equity — to approximately $280 million. The fresh capital is earmarked to expand the battery‑swapping network and accelerate deployment of electric motorcycles continent‑wide, including plans to scale to 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2025.
Since its launch in Mombasa on September 1, 2023 and expansion into Nairobi in June 2024, Spiro has presence in 22 of Kenya’s 47 counties including Kisumu, Kisii, Kakamega, and additional inland regions like Eldoret and Kapsabet.
Beyond Kenya, Spiro plans to deepen penetration in East Africa and enter additional markets in West and Central Africa, including Cameroon and Tanzania, thereby positioning itself as a pan‑African leader in electric two‑wheel mobility. The long‑term goal is to deploy millions of electric motorcycles across the continent by 2030, significantly cutting transport emissions and fostering sustainable urban transport ecosystems.
