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Recently, the phenomenon of motorcycle taxis has become increasingly popular around the world. Kenya is one of the countries where they figure among the preferred means of transportations. According to The World Health Organization, between 2005 and 2011, motorcycle registrations in Kenya increased almost 40-fold. Three students invented a device that could make most motorbike owner’s lives easier.
Tackling an important problem
Motorbikes usually run on polluting and expensive fossil fuels. A World Health Organization survey of 2012 estimated that air pollution causes 176 000 premature deaths a year in Africa. Charles Ogingo, Robert Achoge and James Ogola, three final year students enrolled at the University of Nairobi, invented a system that captures and stores solar energy. The system called Ecotran is then used to charge a motorcycle’s electric motor. Ecotran will provide lower operating costs while benefiting the environment. The students, who opened a company called Pfoofy, and are trying to provide affordable transportation to the rural communities in Kenya with their plug-in electric scooters.
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Drawing worldwide attention
Pfoofy set up a “fuelling” station with 40 solar photovoltaic units with a capacity of 250 watts of electricity. The motorbikes have a small portable battery which will run for approximately 70km. The three men are currently testing the product on a fleet of 3 electric motorcycles but are planning on rapidly scaling up their activities. The three students are gaining attention.
“We were awarded $100 000 by the United States African Development Fund and Power Africa for the ingenious innovation. It is this money that we are now using to upscale the solar project,” said Achoge, one of Pfoofy’s co-founders.
The entrepreneurs plan on testing their product by leasing the Chinese-manufactured bikes to 40 riders. This solution has a huge development impact in Kenya since taxi motorbikes are employing thousands of young people.
Take a look at a Pfoofy motorbike in the video below:
SEE ALSO: An Ethiopian Man Builds His Own Plane After Being Rejected From The Aviation Academy.
