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Ampersand Energy recently announced a partnership to run the Wylex electric motorcycle on its batteries and existing swap network across East Africa. This marks a major step forward for Ampersand, one of the pioneers of electric transport in Africa, and for Wylex Mobility, a leading electric motorcycle manufacturer. The partnership makes Ampersand Energy the first electric transport company in Africa to open its batteries and swap network to third-party vehicle manufacturers. Ampersand is actually an electric vehicle energy tech company, not just a motorcycle company, and has been positioning its branding to reflect this.
This is a major milestone along the journey to interoperability in the African electric motorcycle sector. This open network sets up future possibilities to support other OEMs and electric vehicles such as tuktuks and even small four-wheelers.
Joshua Whale (CEO of Ampersand Energy), Leo Luo Yang (Co-Founder of Wylex Mobility), and Newton Gatura (Chairman City E-Mobility and Ampersand Energy Kenya’s first customer). Image courtesy of Ampersand.
Before this new partnership with Wylex, Ampersand’s battery swap network had been exclusively powering Ampersand’s own electric motorcycles, with the latest iteration of this motorcycle known as “Alpha.” Alpha is a separate brand identity for the Ampersand motorcycle that reflects both its pioneering legacy as one of the first commercial electric motorcycles in Africa, as well as distinguishing the motorcycle brand from Ampersand’s core energy technology and swap station business.
“This is a landmark moment for Africa’s electric transport sector,” said Josh Whale, Ampersand CEO. “We’ve created a top-tier energy infrastructure that any vehicle partner meeting our quality standards can join. Ampersand is the first and only company in Africa to offer an open battery swap network. This development will dramatically accelerate electric transportation in East Africa.”
“With 27 years of engineering, Wylex delivers stronger, longer-lasting performance for riders,” says Eileen CEO of Wylex Mobility. “We’re particularly excited to launch it with Ampersand. Their strong customer focus and reliable swap network made them the ideal partner for our entry into the region.”
The workhorse Wylex vehicle, which the company says has been purposely built for the African commerce space, features an 8kW motor, an 88cm-long steel-reinforced seat, and a total carrying capacity of 200 kg (about 440 lb). Wylex says its bike is a natural fit for the East African market, having passed Ampersand’s stringent testing and quality control standards, and a strong complement to Ampersand’s existing Alpha fleet of motorcycles. Ampersand’s own Alpha Mk1 bikes are already clocking a million kilometers daily. Ampersand Energy says it is already delivering more than 20,000 battery swaps a day across Rwanda and Kenya. With the continent’s most advanced battery technology, Ampersand’s network is built for speed and reliability.
Boda boda rider Cyrus Gatura tests out the comfort and load capacity of the Wylex Roroship with a stalk of bananas.
To date, the company has powered more than 400 million kilometers of travel, proving battery swapping is a safe, practical fit for commercial two-wheel transport in East Africa. Ampersand is going big on partnerships, and some time last year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with BYD to collaborate in the electric motorcycle sector. Ampersand will purchase BYD’s high-tech battery cells to build around 40,000 electric motorcycles by the end of 2026, with the long-term goal of electrifying a large portion of Africa’s 30 million commercial motorbikes. BYD’s cutting-edge lithium-iron-phosphate cells have a long lifespan, have an excellent safety record, and are affordable for everyday users, making them ideal for mass-market electrification.
“We constantly listen to our customers, who have told us they want a wider range of vehicles that still meet Ampersand’s uncompromising quality standards. Today’s partnership means just that: more vehicle options on the region’s most reliable batteries and fastest, best-performing swap network,” Whale added. “As for manufacturers, Ampersand Energy has just opened the door to integrate into the world’s fastest growing market. Moving forward, more quality brands from around the world will be able to plug into our network without having to build the energy infrastructure from scratch,” says Josh.
The East African electric motorcycle market is starting to show signs of unlocking the potential we all knew was there. There are over 30 companies active in this space. Most of them started to address the need for electrification of this market from a siloed approach. This meant everyone was doing their own thing, which is great because it allows more ideas and fosters innovation. But now as the companies start to scale, this approach could hinder growth. This is why there are now growing calls for more interoperability across the ecosystem to unlock growth at the scale required to unlock this full potential. You can get more insights into this from this excellent report on Interoperability from PREO.
Featured image courtesy of Ampersand
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