BasiGo, a Kenyan electric car manufacturer, and the Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) have partnered to assemble modern electric buses in Kenya.
This partnership marks a major step forward in the country’s efforts to transition to electric vehicles and reduce air pollution.
AVA recently completed final assembly of 15 25-seater electronic buses, which were shipped in partially assembled by BasiGo.
These buses are set to begin operations with Nairobi Matatu operators in the coming months.
This partnership will also see the company assemble 33-seater buses as the company seeks to phase out the 25-seater buses used in the pilot project guided by feedback from Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators.
BasiGo and AVA aim to manufacture over 1,000 electric buses in the next 3 years, creating over 300 new manufacturing jobs and an additional 300 jobs in the ecosystem of charging, maintenance, and financing required to support electric buses in operation.
Since launching in March 2022, BasiGo’s electric buses have driven over 141,000 kilometers and carried over 185,000 passengers as part of fleet operations with 2 Nairobi bus operators East Shuttle and Citi Hoppa.
BasiGo makes electric buses affordable to operators through an innovative financing model called “Pay-As-You-Drive” which makes the upfront cost of their electric bus competitive with diesel buses.
“BasiGo is committed to delivering electric buses that are 100 percent assembled in Kenya. We are elated to be partnering with AVA…which has had the expertise for many years in the assembly in the country,” said the CEO, Jit Bhattachary.
