Unveiling Africa's first fully electric bus

Opibus is a Swedish-Kenyan technology company founded in 2017. The company designs, develops and deploys electric vehicles tailored for the African continent. With its electric bus development, Opibus has taken a critical step towards realizing its vision of developing an electric bus that can be mass-produced for the African market by the end of 2023.

In mid-2022, the product would be launched and tested in the peri-urban districts of Nairobi. To test the product's suitability for the African market, the company intends to commercially deploy 10 buses to gather valuable feedback and implement necessary improvements - said project coordinator Dennis Wakaba.

The electric bus has a top speed of 85 kilometres per hour and a 121 kilowatt-hour battery capacity. It consumes approximately 225 kilowatts of energy and can cover a distance of 120 kilometres on a single charge. Charging time can be as short as an hour during fast charging.

Opibus would install multiple public charging stations as part of its bus rollout. These stations will offer alternating current (slow charging) and direct current (fast charging) options.

This is a step towards the electrification of Africa's public transport system and reducing the continent's carbon footprint. Local development is critical to deploying products that suit the African market's requirements and reduces the cost of transitioning to EVs for operators.