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Petrocity, Spiro ink battery charging deal targeting electric car users
Friday February 16 2024
Petrocity fuel station in Nyali. Spiro has inked a deal with Petrocity to set up battery-swapping stations. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Electric vehicles infrastructure firm Spiro has inked a deal with Petrocity that will see it set up battery swapping stations at the oil marketer’s outlets.
Swapping stations allow motorists with EVs to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones, thus ensuring continuous and efficient travel without long recharging times at stations. Spiro, which began operations in 2019, currently operates more than 600 stations for swapping EV batteries in Kenya, Benin, Togo, and Rwanda.
Read: Highways to have EV battery chargers every 25km
Through the deal with Petrocity, the firm seeks to leverage the oil company’s extensive network of fuel outlets across the country to put up the swap stations.
Spiro’s partnership with Petrocity in Kenya is part of its broader strategy to enhance electric mobility infrastructure across Africa. “Africa’s electric mobility landscape is transforming, and our partnership with Petrocity marks a significant milestone in this journey,” said Spiro Chief Executive Kaushik Burman.
The firm has further announced that starting end of this month, it will launch automatic swap stations across its operating zones.
“By integrating Spiro’s smart swap stations within our network, we are at the forefront of an environmental revolution,” Petrocity Managing Director Aman Kurji said.
The announcement follows a series of strategic partnerships with the EV firm, including collaborations with Jali in Rwanda and both Mogo and Watu in Kenya.
“These partnerships aim to provide unprecedented access to asset finance, enabling the rapid deployment of Spiro’s innovative swap stations and fostering a sustainable EV market across Africa,” said Mr Burman.
Kenya has been racing to grow the uptake of EVs in recent years as part of the shift to renewable energies.
Read: KenGen, National Oil eye joint e-vehicle charging hubs
This led to the introduction of a cheaper special tariff for EV charging for the first time in April last year in the new power tariffs that were approved by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).
