President William Ruto has promised to make electric motorbikes available to boda-boda riders.
Electric bikes are not much cheaper to run than petrol bikes although of course they are quieter and environmentally cleaner. So they may not be that attractive to boda-boda riders.
More importantly, electric cars typically only have a range of around 250 km. After that they need charging which normally takes at least 30 minutes.
So boda-boda riders will need multiple charging points. There are an estimated 1.2 million boda-boda riders in Kenya of whom around 200,000 operate in Nairobi. If they were all to go electric, Kenya would need at least 100,000 electric charging points.
Of course, the government must encourage Kenyans to adopt electric vehicles, especially in public transport. By 2030, most developed countries will only have electric vehicles on sale.
But how do we solve the charging problem? Government can speak to regular petrol stations to install electric charging points and offer tax breaks for home electric chargers as well as for hybrid bikes, cars and buses.
Whatever happens, government needs to make chargers widely available or the electric vehicle revolution will never take off in Kenya.
Quote of the day: "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."
Muhammad Ali
The American boxer died on June 3, 2016
