The future of driving is here?and it?s electric

An electric converted Land Cruiser 70-Series utility vehicle is test driven at the Ngong Hills Wind Power Station in the northern foothills of Ngong Hills, Kenya, on April 27, 2021. KenGen?s wind farm in Ngong hills was the first to be developed in East Africa.

One company is retrofitting old Land Rovers to make all-electric safari vehicles, converting buses and public transport vehicles to electric, and building electric motorbikes for everyday use: Roam, formerly known as Opibus. Roam?s vision is to make electric transport more accessible to a broader market by making the technology more cost efficient and simplifying deployment. The company focuses on all-electric conversion kits for fleet vehicles such as light trucks, public transport and buses, as well as electric motorcycles and energy systems. Roam was founded as a research project at one of Sweden's top technical universities, and Kenya was chosen as the location for the headquarters as it is the fastest growing nation in sub-saharan Africa.

Kenya, with a tourist economy dependent on sustainable natural beauty and wildlife, and a growing capital city that struggles with a high human cost of pollution and profound inequality, is leading the electric revolution in Africa. The Kenyan government has set ambitious targets for decreasing carbon emissions in the next few years, and are looking at everything from ?matatus? to fishing boats to the railroads. Electric vehicles have especially broad potential here because of how widespread renewable energy has become in Kenya, and because so many used car imports in east Africa come through Nairobi ? a perfect (and also less wasteful) opportunity to turn them electric instead of manufacturing new vehicles from scratch. As one of the world?s fastest-growing countries, Kenya?s rising, increasingly urban middle class is buying vehicles at increasingly rapid rates. With their transport sector already accounting for 39% of CO2 emissions, it?s clear that the choices made today will have exponential impact on the country?s energy future.