Rembo Classic Shuttle acquires electric buses from BasiGo

Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operator Rembo Classic Sacco has acquired two electric buses from BasiGo.

The purchase has made Rembo the first PSV sacco in Kajiado to buy electric buses from the company. BasiGo flagged off the buses on Tuesday. The electric buses will ply the Kitengela – CBD – Upper Hill – Westlands and Greatwall Athi River – Upper Hill – Westlands routes. They will also ply the Devki – CBD – Upper Hill – Westlands route.

More, this comes just a month after the company received $42 million capital injection from a pool of investors to scale up its electric buses manufacturing operation.

In celebration of World Sustainable Transport Day, we proudly flagged off two electric buses for Rembo Classic, now the first Sacco in Kajiado County to embrace electric mobility. This bold move represents a growing trust in electric vehicles among Kenya’s transport operators. Beyond reducing emissions, Rembo Classic is driving change by cutting operational costs and creating green jobs in the transportation sector.

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This comes just over a month after BasiGo also flagged off four electric buses purchased by Latema Sacco, another PSV operator. The buses are plying the Central Business District (CBD) – Thika, CBD – Kabiria and CBD – Gachie routes.

It is so far unclear if the saccos have acquired the buses on a lease or have fully purchased them.

The increased uptake of electric buses by PSV operators underscores the growing popularity of these buses. Electric buses were first introduced in Kenya just a few years ago. BasiGo is currently the largest electric bus manufacturer in Kenya.

But one of the stumbling blocks standing in the way of increased uptake of electric buses is the high upfront cost of buying them. However, to mitigate the cost challenge, BasiGo has introduced several pricing models for the purchase or use of its buses.

One of these models is leasing, where a customer leases a fully electric bus with a security deposit of Ksh1 million. Thereafter, the customer pays a Pay-As-You-Drive charge of Ksh70 per kilometer. The company offers free charging at its charging stations and free maintenance at 15,000km intervals.

Meanwhile, the other model is where a customer can buy the buy without an electric battery for Ksh7.5 million. This is in the same price range as a diesel bus then pay a Pay-As-You-Drive charge of Ksh44 per kilometer.

“With Pay-As-You-Drive, owners can acquire an E-Bus for a minimal upfront cost. Since Pay-As-You-Drive is mileage-based, owners only pay if their Electric Bus is operating. With Pay-As-You-Drive, owning an electric bus is as Easy as Driving,” says BasiGo.

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