By Kevin Githuku
Zeno, a San Francisco, Nairobi and Bangalore-based technology mobility OEM company has launched its first Sport Utility Electric Motorcycle in Kenya today.
The Emara motorcycle equipped with Multi-Modal Charging available in East Africa moves upto 95 to 100 KM per hour and is set to carry a load capacity of more than 250 Kilograms.
Globally, over 600 million motorcycles are on the road, with the vast majority concentrated in Asia and Africa, where two-wheelers are the backbone of everyday mobility and economic productivity. These vehicles guzzle nearly $400 billion of fuel every single year and are responsible for nearly a quarter of emerging market CO2, PM 2.5, and NOX emissions from road transportation.
The Zeno Emara is purpose-built to electrify this massive segment, offering a rugged, versatile, and affordable alternative to global workhorse models like the Bajaj Boxer 150cc, TVS 150cc, and Hero Splendor.
“Motorcycle customers deserve an EV that doesn’t force trade-offs between affordability, performance, and convenience,” said Michael Spencer, CEO of Zeno. “With the Emara we’ve built a sport utility electric motorcycle that’s tough enough for a full day’s work, stylish enough for an evening date night out, and flexible enough to charge however and wherever our customers need.”
The company is opening two assembly hubs and nine showrooms across East Africa this week and has started deliveries in Kenya on the Zeno Emara designed for rough roads, heavy loads and flexibility.
Speaking to Pearl Radio during the Launch this morning, The CEO, Michael Spencer noted that the motorcycle is already available to Kenyan boda boda riders and other interested parties at 189,000 Ksh, or a financing option where customers deposit 15,000
ksh and pay 290 daily.
“So we’ve launched now with at a price of 189,000 shillings. We already have over 15,000 customers on our wait list that we’ve built over the last several weeks. And so there’s a limited time offer remaining for that, for that introductory pricing.”
Spencer adds that the bike, which has over 40 charging points across the country with a home charging option available, comes as a gamechanger in the clean, eco-friendly environment and is a boost towards clean energy. He also elaborated how different it is
from what’s already available on the market.
“It is a multi modal charging network. So no other company has both home charging and fast charging and swapping that allows for a lot of flexibility and how and where you charge. No other company has a product or a charging ecosystem today that allows you to drive 350, kilometers to Meru and back on an EV charging network that’s very different and unique and is highly valued by our initial customers. It is better than your most popular petrol motorbikes here. It can carry a much larger load. It can go up steeper hills.
”It can go faster, and it can last longer than the most popular petrol motorbikes,” said Spencer.
Zeno’s charging system offers riders unprecedented flexibility where users can swap batteries at its network of swap stations, plug in and charge at Zeno’s interoperable public.
This new approach to customer-centric charging removes the barriers created by urban- centric swap networks and provides a solution that ensures affordable and capable electric mobility is available to both urban and rural customers.
CEO Spencer mentioned that the bike brand is currently being launched across different countries.
“We’re also launching this week in Uganda, which is an exciting market for us. And over the next several quarters, we’ll be opening up showrooms and beginning deliveries across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, several other East African markets, and in India.”