Over the past decade, Kenya has become a sought-after destination for investors in e-mobility and its technology.
Electric vehicle batteries have undergone many technological advances. These include chemical changes aimed at increasing energy density and other metrics such as the weight and size of battery packs. These changes make batteries more manageable and improve their safety.
Furthermore, companies offering battery leasing services can install IoT SIM cards in the batteries. These cards provide location data and thus enable asset tracking. The battery also has a battery management system (BMS) that can monitor the battery’s status while it is in use.
All data is collected on a management platform. This ensures that customers only receive healthy batteries in their vehicles. Thanks to tracking capabilities, the technology can be used to identify the owners of used batteries that fall into the wrong hands or are disposed of in the environment.
Automated battery swap stations in Nairobi and surrounding areas have enabled a leading battery service company to reduce operating costs as it requires no human intervention. Automation through a mobile app interface, USSD code, QR code or RFID enables battery swapping in less than two minutes.
Swap stations are easy to locate using the company’s mobile app and can be easily moved to areas of high demand. The flexibility of these compact, easy-to-use swap stations improves the customer experience and alleviates the range anxiety that is prevalent in the electric motorcycle industry.
Another startup developed the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) system after discovering that many of its customers could not afford to replace a full battery. The pay-as-you-go solution allows users to purchase power from a fully charged battery at intervals. This is done through a mobile wallet. As the company proves the concept, it notes that 95 percent of its customers recharged for less than the cost of a full battery replacement. This simply means that the full battery replacement fee of around Sh200 is out of reach for most of its customers.
OEMs who want to allow their customers to purchase energy based on their economic situation could embrace this technology. In fact, this technology is a major game changer that opens up the possibility of battery interoperability and infrastructure sharing. This will have a multiplier effect on increasing the adoption of electric mobility.
For insurance companies, insurance experts will be thrilled to learn more about the role of technology in risk management. Statistics show that the majority of electric motorcycle accidents are due to speeding. Well, for electric motorcycles, speeding is a thing of the past. Technicians can program the vehicle’s control software and set its speed. This tamper-proof innovation can also be used by industry regulators. The added layer of security of tracking batteries and vehicles using IoT tags is also a selling point.
As the e-mobility industry moves from its infancy, it will be interesting to see how technology plays a role, especially in the manufacturing of four-wheelers. AI-controlled robots can increase manufacturing speed while boosting efficiency. Vision cameras and other technology can improve vehicle quality control by reducing defects.
The writer is a champion of electric mobility.