Kenyan-based company Little cab is set to introduce electric bikes and scooters in select estates and Universities within the Nairobi metropolis.
The project will first be piloted at the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta University (KU), and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
While speaking to the media, the Group Chief Executive Officer Kamal Budhabhatti revealed that the pilot project would start with 200 electric bikes before others are rolled out over time.
“We are also talking with some estates within Nairobi metropolis. We shall start with 200 and that is a small number we are doing in universities. If the plan works well we will get 10,000 of these and assemble them locally,” he stated.
The CEO also explained that they chose institutions of higher learning because many students were struggling to get to class on time noting that many universities had their facilities scattered around their large parcels of land.
"We are putting these micro-mobility e-devices in universities. With the electric bike even when peddling uphill, little energy will be used for that.
"Some of our universities are very big and for students to walk from one end to another end they have to start to walk half an hour earlier," he stated.
Upon enrollment, users of the bikes and scooters will be charged Ksh20 per hour with the electric bikes stored in various locations within the universities.
In regard to security, it was revealed that the company would partner with university administrations as the bikes are bound to travel a specific geographical area.
Additionally, Budhabhatti disclosed that they would expand the programme to vehicles if the pilots of bikes and scooters became successful.
’We are certain with micro-mobility services like bikes and scooters and if it works out well we will scale to motor vehicles," he stated.
For the past few years, various companies have launched electric cars and bikes in Nairobi even as they advocate for green energy. In early March, electric bus company BasiGo launched electric bus services for Nairobi residents living in Eastlands and Mombasa road.
