What a shared battery standard would do
Battery swapping lets a rider pull into a station and swap a nearly empty battery for a fully charged one, instead of waiting for a battery to charge in place. The idea only saves time and money if a battery sold by 1 company also fits a station run by another, the way a phone charger works across more than 1 phone brand. An international standard built for exactly that case, named IEC 62840 1, was published in 2025, the International Energy Agency states. The same agency, an intergovernmental body that tracks global energy use, also states that most vehicles now on the road do not meet the level of standardisation that cross network swapping needs.
How many models a rider can choose
In Chinese Taipei, battery swapping runs on 1 network shared across manufacturers, and the International Energy Agency counts over 55 electric 2 and 3 wheeler models available on that single network in 2025. In Kenya and Uganda, the same agency counts only 2 to 4 models available on any 1 network. Rwanda counts 8 models and India counts 10 to 20. Each of those lower counts sits inside a market split between separate, closed networks rather than 1 shared network.
Rwanda is drawn as a single fixed number rather than a range because the source states 1 figure only. Chinese Taipei, where over 55 models run on 1 shared network, is left out of this chart and carried in a stat tile instead, because an open ended count that far outside this scale would flatten the 4 rows shown here.
Show the numbers
| Kenya | 2 to 4 models |
| Uganda | 2 to 4 models |
| Rwanda | 8 models |
| India | 10 to 20 models |
How much capacity each network keeps in reserve
The gap shows again in how many spare batteries a station keeps ready to hand over. The average swap station in Chinese Taipei holds 30 batteries, the agency reports. In Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, the average station holds 12, less than half. India holds 15. A station with fewer batteries in reserve serves fewer riders at once, and every one of those batteries has to match the single brand that station carries.
Chinese Taipei runs 1 shared network open to several manufacturers. Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and India each split model choice across separate, closed networks. Every value in this chart is a single stated average from the source, not a range, so nothing is collapsed to make the bar.
Show the numbers
| Kenya | 12 |
| Uganda | 12 |
| Rwanda | 12 |
| India | 15 |
| Chinese Taipei | 30 |
Three closed networks built from nothing
Spiro, Ampersand and Dodai run electric motorcycles and battery swap stations in 3 separate African countries, and each was built as its own closed system rather than joining an existing one. Spiro sells its own Ekon 450M1 motorcycle, and its own site describes every station as running on Spiro batteries, naming no other maker. Ampersand sells its own SMART HM19 battery, giving 70 to 110 kilometres per swap and a lifetime of around 350,000 kilometres, and names no motorcycle beyond its own. Dodai, a newer company in Ethiopia, built its network from nothing instead of joining either one. Its founder, Yuma Sasaki, states plainly that keeping the network closed is the whole point.
The battery swapping model follows a winner takes all approach, allowing us to establish a strong market position before competition, especially from major Chinese players like Yadea and Transsion, intensifies.
Yuma Sasaki, founder of Dodai, an electric motorcycle and battery swapping company in Ethiopia. Source 3.
What leaving a network costs a rider
At least 12 electric motorcycle brands compete for riders in Kenya alone, the news site Rest of World reports, though not every brand runs its own swap stations. Tom Courtright, an electric mobility consultant who studies the sector, said keeping a network closed is where a company expects to make its money back.
That's the real exit plan.
Tom Courtright, electric mobility consultant and research director at the Africa E Mobility Alliance. Source 2.
A rider cannot leave 1 network for another the way a driver switches fuel stations. The motorcycle and the battery come from the same company, so leaving a network means buying a new motorcycle, not only riding to a different station.