How Kenya Is Quietly Building Its Own Electric Cars
This is not just another car—it’s a statement.
We’re inside the Tad Motors workshop in Kenya, where something rare is happening: an electric vehicle built using locally sourced Kenyan steel, assembled by a Kenyan workforce, and powered by Chinese battery and electronic technology. It’s not perfect. It’s not polished. But it’s real and it proves that African EV manufacturing is possible.
In this video, I drive one of Kenya’s first locally built EV prototypes and break down what’s truly Kenyan, what still comes from China, and why this matters. Unlike typical CKD and SKD assembly, Tad Motors is going a step further—fabricating body parts locally, reverse-engineering components, and building a foundation for full manufacturing.
This is what the early stages of industrialization look like: rudimentary, experimental, but full of potential. And if backed by the right policies, financing, and regional collaboration, this model could scale across Africa—from batteries to bodies to final assembly.
The fact is:
Africans can build…
Kenyans are building…
And this might be where Africa’s EV future begins.
The conversation now is not what Africa should manufacture first—batteries, bodies, or full vehicles- but how it should start building its own mobility solutions.
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Also, what is your country building? Comment below, and we’ll be sure to check the vehicles out.
