Roam, a Nairobi-based technology company that develops, designs, and deploys electric vehicles tailored for the African continent, has just unveiled its new production facility that is more than 10,000 square meters in size. This new facility will allow for an expanded production and have an annual capacity of 50,000 motorcycles while staying a carbon-neutral assembly, which are part of Roam’s key goals in the coming years.
The investment in a new facility is part of the company’s effort to scale up commercial mass production of its electric motorcycles well as improve efficiency. This new location will enable Roam’s engineers and technicians to increase capacity throughout the assembly process and improve overall safety and quality. The new premises will also combine the production, distribution, and storage operations under one roof, creating a technology hub and reducing the company’s overall carbon footprint. Currently, Roam has more than 150 highly skilled employees within design, engineering, and production to ensure that the electric motorcycles retain quality and affordability while building local capacity. The company’s growth is expected to continue in 2023 as the company continues to expand in East Africa to meet demand.
Roam’s new production facility operations are being led by Brett Mangel, Chief Operations Officer, who formerly worked at Tesla, where he was part of the team successfully scaling high-quality production for electric vehicles. “Moving ahead with this new production facility represents a significant step forward in bringing sustainable mobility solutions to Kenya,” said Brett Mangel. “With some of the brightest talent, key partners, and access to a good infrastructure and logistics network, Roam is confident that this new location is a step in the right direction.”
“I am very proud of the team for the work they’re doing during this phase of expansion. It’s exciting to envision the improvements in production efficiency we will achieve and the new jobs that will be created as we continue to grow,” explains Japheth Ruttoh, Head of Production at Roam.
The Roam Air is the company’s flagship electric motorcycle. Here are some specs of the Roam Air:
Technical Specifications
- Peak Torque: 58 nm
- Top speed: 90 km/h
- Acceleration 0-60 km/h: 6.9 sec
- Range: 70 km per battery pack, depending on riding behavior
- Battery Capacity: 2x 3.24 kWh
- Payload: 220 kg
- Weight: 129 kg single battery, 149 kg dual battery
Other features:
- Removable dual battery solution
- Driving modes: Eco, Standard, Power, Sports, Reverse
- Increased carrying capacity on subframe
- State-of-the-art software and onboard telemetry
- Improved screen user interface with better visibility
- Storage compartment in tank
- Fleet management functionality
- USB charging port
Founded in 2017, Roam was recently a finalist in Prince William’s Earth Shot Prize. It’s really good to see Roam grow to these levels. I have been following Roam’s progress from the beginning. As Elon Musk says, prototypes are easy, scaling production is hard, so it’s really encouraging to see Roam now working towards reaching a production capacity of 50,000 units per year. The motorcycle segment is a critical pillar of the mobility sector in East and West Africa, and accelerating the electrification of this sector is very important to the sustainability of the industry.
Images courtesy of Roam
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