It begins with a small, unsettling thought that refuses to go away: What if the bike you journey daily isn’t actually yours?
That query is what lit the fuse round Spiro, the electrical bike firm that has expanded shortly throughout 27 areas in Kenya. For a lot of riders, Spiro bikes promised a means out of excessive gasoline prices and punishing day by day bills. However critics now say Spiro bikes have come to symbolise one thing else totally, a brand new type of management dressed up as innovation.
This argument spilled onto social media a fortnight in the past after Rapcha, a widely known media persona, complained that his Spiro bike had been switched off after sitting unused for some time. The main points weren’t very clear, however the response was. Riders and commentators jumped to the conclusion that if an organization can flip your bike off, then your work is simply yours so long as another person permits it.
“Apparently in case you are sick for a number of days, or concerned in an accident and may’t use your bike, the battery is reported as “Stolen” and your information instantly switched off from their swapping stations,” Rapcha, whose actual title is Francis Njeri, posted on X. “You need to bodily tow the bike to their station in mlolongo at your individual value for the battery to be re-registered once more or without end overlook utilizing your bike.”
Why has the anger refused to go away
To know the backlash, it’s a must to know the way Spiro works.
Based in 2019, Spiro launched in Togo and Benin in 2022, adopted by Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria in 2025. The EV maker is a subsidiary of Equitane Group, headquartered in Dubai. It assembles EV two-wheelers, with one among its greatest vegetation in Nairobi.
Riders purchase the bikes, normally by a fee plan. However the battery—the guts of the machine—doesn’t belong to them. As an alternative, they swap batteries at Spiro stations and pay per swap.
On paper, it is smart. EV batteries are costly. Swapping is quicker than charging—normally lower than 5 minutes. However in actual life, riders like Vincent Odero really feel it creates dependence. A petroleum rider can cease wherever and refill. A Spiro rider can’t transfer with out Spiro’s community of swapping stations.
“Spiro has addressed among the points, however nonetheless we can not cost at residence and solely depends on their charging stations,” Odero says.
So when Kenyans on social media heard that bikes may very well be switched off, the worry unfold quick. Riders imagined falling sick, travelling upcountry, or just taking a break, and coming again to a useless bike and a damaged earnings.
Spiro’s deputy head for Kenya, Raymond Kitunga, advised TechCabal in an interview that worry relies on rumours, not actuality.
“It’s a fallacy to say we will change off a transferring bike,” he stated. “If that have been the case, we might have brought on a trillion accidents by now.”
In line with him, bikes are usually not shut down out of the blue or casually. They don’t seem to be disabled after a number of days of inactivity. And they’re actually not switched off whereas somebody is using.
“There are set parameters—mentioned, agreed, and contractually signed off—between all stakeholders,” he stated. “We don’t simply get up and resolve to change off somebody’s bike.”
He defined that deactivation solely comes after a protracted interval—about 45 days—of no battery swaps or engagement. Even then, he stated, the corporate first tries to succeed in the rider.
“We name. We test in. We ask what’s taking place,” Kitunga stated. “If somebody is sick, if there’s a real challenge, these issues are thought-about.”
For a lot of riders, the problem isn’t whether or not Spiro abuses this energy. It’s that the facility exists in any respect.
Energy, not simply funds
Kenya’s boda boda economic system runs on skinny margins, with Automotive and Common—a Kenya automobile and equipment maker—estimating that riders earn a mean of KES1,000 ($7.75) day by day. Most riders reside daily. Lacking work for per week due to sickness or household points can push somebody into debt.
That’s why Spiro’s critics say the corporate advantages from desperation. The bikes are cheaper to run than petrol ones. In line with Spiro, their EVs are cheaper by between KES180 ($1.4) to KES300 ($2.33).
Riders like Rapcha reckon that whereas the bike could also be bodily theirs, the battery, the software program, and the foundations that govern entry sit elsewhere. Exercise is tracked, and inactivity has penalties.
Spiro rejects that framing. The corporate says it’s providing entry, not exploitation. Many riders who may by no means qualify for a financial institution mortgage can now personal a motorcycle. Day by day repayments are as little as KES180 ($1.4). Gasoline financial savings are actual. For some riders, electrical bicycles have improved their lives by serving to them lower operational prices.
“I spend KES200 ($1.5) lower than what I used to once I had a petroleum bike,” says Stephen Mutisya, a rider in Nairobi. “ On the finish of the day, I’ve some extra cash that I can save for different private makes use of.”
The battery that isn’t yours
For Spiro, battery swap is a sensible alternative. For a lot of riders, it seems like dependence. They pay about KES290 ($2.25) per swap to journey an estimated 80km, which the corporate says is cheaper than 2 litre petrol at KES360 ($2.79) for a similar distance.
“We did that purposefully,” Kitunga stated. “The battery is the most costly a part of the bike. If we bundled it into the worth, most riders wouldn’t afford the bike within the first place.”
The mannequin lowers the upfront value and retains bikes on the highway. Nevertheless it additionally means riders can’t function exterior Spiro’s community. A petroleum rider can refuel wherever. A Spiro rider can’t transfer with out entry to a swap station.
Why not cost at residence?
The thought of charging at residence has been floated by many social media customers who’ve come out to poke holes within the mannequin. To many, if you happen to personal the bike, you must cost it at residence like a telephone. Why should you retain swapping batteries?
Kitunga says the reply is security and time.
“Folks suppose residence charging is freedom,” he stated. “However charging takes hours. Swapping takes minutes. In case your telephone was your whole enterprise, would you need it offline for eight hours daily?”
He additionally factors to the dangers of charging lithium batteries in casual residence settings, the place wiring and storage circumstances are unpredictable.
From Spiro’s viewpoint, swapping maximises earnings and reduces threat. From a rider’s viewpoint, it nonetheless seems like another person deciding how your day ought to run.
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