Precious Obogo
Electricity swap network is expanding rapidly in Nigeria as Electric mobility company Spiro plans to expand its facility of battery swap stations in Nigeria from 100 to 1,000 by January next year.
Spiro’s Director for West Africa, Rahul Gaur, announced the target at the Media Connect event at the weekend.
He said the company wants swapping stations to function as a nationwide alternative to fuel stations, giving riders the ability to replace batteries in minutes instead of waiting hours for charging.
“We have 64 active substations in Lagos. By the end of this year, we are targeting 1,000, and by next year 2,000 across the country,” Gaur said.
Gaur described cost as one of the main barriers to electric mobility in Nigeria. Earlier models of electric motorcycles sold for as much as ₦3 million ($2,000), but Spiro has priced its current models at about N1.44 million ($964), close to the ₦1.35 million ($903) average for petrol motorcycles.
The company says its battery-as-a-service model reduces upfront costs for riders. Users swap discharged batteries at designated stations for a fee, which the company argues is cheaper and more predictable than fuelling with petrol.
According to Gaur, a 100-kilometre trip costs about ₦2,000 ($1.3) on an electric bike compared to roughly ₦3,000 ($2.1) on a petrol bike.
He added that riders can save around 36 per cent overall on fuel and maintenance since electric bikes do not require oil changes, filters, or frequent servicing.
Gaur highlighted Spiro’s reliance on technology to manage its fleet. The company’s motorcycles are equipped with GPS trackers and can be remotely immobilised or geo-fenced. Through a platform called Command Centre, fleet owners and governments can monitor bike location, speed, downtime, and even battery health.
He suggested that the system could also support public safety by restricting bike movement in sensitive areas or reducing theft.
Gaur also mentioned that Nigeria has created favourable policies that aid electric mobility penetration.
Beyond Nigeria, he said, African governments are beginning to encourage electric mobility.
Uganda has cut duties on battery imports, Ethiopia has announced a full transition to electric vehicles, Rwanda has banned the registration of new petrol motorcycles, and Togo offers tax exemptions on EV components. Nigeria removed value-added tax on electric motorcycles earlier this year.
However, Nigeria still has its challenges, such as unreliable power supply. To address this, Spiro uses “second-life” batteries imported from Togo to store energy for its swap stations. The batteries, previously used in other markets, act as inverters to keep stations running when grid electricity is unavailable.
“We are working on solutions for bringing in the convenience to riders despite issues with power.”
Spiro commenced operations in Nigeria in July 2024 and has delivered about 3,500 motorcycles so far, with a backlog of 20,000 orders. The company plans to establish a local assembly plant and is training students and mechanics through its Spiro Academy to support after-sales service and build technical expertise.
The company says its bikes have already covered 833 million kilometres and completed more than 22 million battery swaps across Africa. The company also launched Africa’s first all-women EV assembly earlier this year.
“We see a future here,” Gaur said, adding that Spiro aims for electric motorcycles to become mainstream in Nigeria within the next decade.