SUN Mobility, a global leader in battery swapping technology, in partnership with Vivo Energy, has launched its open-architecture electric vehicle battery swapping ecosystem in Kenya, establishing the country as the launchpad for its Africa-wide rollout. With 35 stations already live across Nairobi and Mombasa, the ecosystem supports electric motorcycles, scooters, passenger tuk-tuks and cargo three-wheelers from multiple vehicle manufacturers integrated onto SUN Mobility’s open architecture battery swapping ecosystem.
This eliminates the need for vehicle manufacturers to invest in the development and roll out of proprietary swapping infrastructure, accelerating EV (electric vehicle) adoption while riders benefit from greater choice and a smooth swapping experience.
With Africa’s rising fuel costs, SUN Mobility’s solution offers 20% savings versus petrol vehicles at 100 km per day and up to 35% at 150 km per day. Africa’s electric mobility transition requires more than new vehicles. It needs a reliable, scalable battery swapping ecosystem that supports multiple vehicle manufacturers on a shared swap network. This enables vehicle manufacturers to focus on building vehicles and giving riders, fleets and financiers confidence in reliable access to energy.
The launch builds on SUN Mobility’s proven India platform, which already powers 125,000+ vehicles through 2,000+ stations across 25 cities and supports over 30+ vehicle manufacturers partners in India – proof that the platform works at scale.
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“By building an open architecture battery swapping ecosystem for multiple vehicle manufacturers and vehicle formats, 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,” said Ajay Goel, SUN Mobility’s Co-Founder and CEO International Business. “For vehicle manufacturers and ecosystem partners, our platform offers a capital-efficient pathway to scale. Kenya is just the beginning of our long-term vision to build Africa’s largest universal battery swapping network for electric mobility.”
SUN Mobility’s platform has been developed fully in-house over the last nine years, and is backed by more than 450 patents, design registrations and trademarks. It comprises rugged, high-quality Smart Batteries that are built to the highest standards of safety and can be upgraded without any change to vehicles.
The Quick Interchange Stations are both high-throughput and thermally controlled to ensure that batteries are charged quickly and safely before dispensing. The Smart Network, its proprietary cloud-based system, manages all assets and customer touchpoints providing smooth connectivity, tracking and maintenance across the network.
At the Kenya launch, SUN Mobility showcased compatible vehicles from more than 10 partner vehicle manufacturers from across the world, such as Afrina Neopower, BGauss, Fika Mobility, Motovolt, Odysse, Piaggio, QJ-YY, Sprocomm, VMoto and Wylex, who are in process of rolling out these vehicles across Kenya in the coming weeks.
The rollout is supported by an Africa-wide partnership with Vivo Energy, bringing SUN Mobility’s battery swapping network to over 4,200 Shell and Engen-branded service stations across 29 countries in Africa and creating a convenient and accessible network of locations for riders.
According to Hans Paulsen, EVP East & South – Africa, Vivo Energy, the partnership reflects the company’s commitment to supporting Kenya’s evolving energy needs and expanding access to cleaner mobility solutions.
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“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. By deploying this technology at locations where riders already stop every day, we can make the transition to electric mobility more accessible, convenient and scalable across Africa.”
Over the next five years, SUN Mobility plans to deploy more than 160,000 vehicles powered by 2,500 battery swapping stations across Africa. Kenya is the first step in a broader rollout with Vivo Energy, leveraging its pan-African retail network to transform fuel stations into multi-energy hubs accelerating scalable EV adoption across the continent.
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