SUN Mobility has launched its open-architecture battery swapping ecosystem in Kenya in partnership with Vivo Energy, marking the start of the company’s planned expansion across the African continent.
The battery swapping network currently has 35 operational stations across Nairobi and Mombasa, supporting electric motorcycles, scooters, passenger tuk-tuks and cargo three-wheelers from multiple vehicle manufacturers.
Unlike proprietary swapping networks designed for individual vehicle brands, SUN Mobility’s open platform is intended to support multiple manufacturers and vehicle formats through a shared infrastructure network. The company says this approach can accelerate electric vehicle adoption by giving riders greater choice while reducing the need for individual manufacturers to build their own swapping infrastructure.
According to SUN Mobility, its battery swapping solution can deliver operating cost savings of around 20% compared with petrol-powered vehicles for users travelling 100 km per day. The savings can increase to approximately 35% at 150 km of daily usage, offering an attractive proposition for high-mileage commercial and passenger mobility applications amid rising fuel costs.
The Kenya launch builds on SUN Mobility’s experience in India, where its technology supports more than 125,000 electric vehicles through over 2,000 battery swapping stations across 25 cities. The company works with more than 30 vehicle manufacturers in the country.
“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, Co-Founder and CEO, International Business, SUN Mobility.
The company’s battery swapping technology has been developed over nine years and is supported by more than 450 patents, design registrations and trademarks. Its platform combines Smart Batteries, Quick Interchange Stations and a cloud-based Smart Network.
The Smart Batteries are designed for safety and can be upgraded without requiring modifications to vehicles. The Quick Interchange Stations provide high-throughput battery replacement with thermal management, while the cloud-based network manages batteries, customer interactions, maintenance and other operational functions.
At the Kenya launch, SUN Mobility showcased compatible vehicles from more than 10 manufacturers, including Afrina Neopower, BGauss, Fika Mobility, Motovolt, Odysse, Piaggio, QJ-YY, Sprocomm, VMoto and Wylex. These companies are expected to begin rolling out compatible vehicles in Kenya in the coming weeks.
The expansion is supported by an Africa-wide partnership with Vivo Energy, which operates Shell and Engen-branded service stations across the continent. Through the partnership, SUN Mobility aims to extend its battery swapping network to more than 4,200 service stations across 29 African countries.
Hans Paulsen, EVP East & South – Africa at Vivo Energy, said the open-architecture model aligns with the company’s existing service station network by allowing multiple electric vehicle brands and categories to use a common swapping infrastructure.
The companies plan to deploy more than 160,000 electric vehicles powered by 2,500 battery swapping stations across Africa over the next five years. Kenya will serve as the initial market for a wider rollout that aims to transform existing fuel stations into multi-energy hubs supporting electric mobility.
Founded in 2017 by SUN Group and Maini Group, SUN Mobility has strategic and financial backing from companies including Bosch, Vitol, Indian Oil and Helios Climate. Through its Indofast Energy joint venture with Indian Oil, the company operates more than 2,000 swapping stations in India.
The company says its Indian network has powered more than 125,000 electric two- and three-wheelers, which have completed over 70 million battery swaps and travelled approximately 2 billion kilometres.
With its Kenya launch, SUN Mobility is now positioning battery swapping as a scalable infrastructure model for Africa’s growing electric mobility market, with the Vivo Energy partnership providing access to an extensive network of existing service locations.
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