Rwanda Electric Motors Will Celebrate 50 Million Kilometers Driven By Its Electric Motorcycle Fleet
Author: Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai
One of the leaders in Africa’s electric motorcycle industry is Rwanda Electric Motors (REM). REM has been specializing in this field since 2019 in Rwanda and has become one of the largest e-mobility companies in the continent. In a recent update, the company announced that it is close to celebrating its 50,000,000th km driven with 100% electric bikes in 2023. This distance is equivalent to traveling around the Earth’s equator more than 1,200 times or traveling to the Moon and back over 200 times. With close to 300 bikes in operation since its inception, REM has developed a unique model allowing moto taxi riders to no longer use gasoline, which in turns helps them generate significant fuel savings while also reducing carbon emissions. These electric motorcycles are also simpler and cheaper to maintain and service, unlocking more savings and efficiencies for players in the industry. REM’s flagship product, the EMB2000, was developed with considerable input from the local moto taxi community and is capable of traveling up to 100 km on its two-battery design before requiring a 3-minute swap at an exchange station. REM is also the only authorized vendor to safely convert and retrofit existing petrol bikes on the road to full electric and compatible with its convenient battery swap network. The company believes that electric vehicles are the future of transportation and is working hard to make that dream a reality. Rwanda has put in place an ambitious green agenda that would convert all its moto taxis from petrol-based internal combustion engines to electric within the next few years. According to the Rwanda Federation of Taxi-Moto (RFTM), there are about 46,000 moto-taxi riders registered in the country, with 26,000 of them operating in Kigali.