ekoglobe-tanzania
EKOglobe is a cleantech company operating at the intersection of green mobility, solar rooftop installations and capacity building. Operating in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Iringa, the company design and assemble electric three-wheelers for a variety of applications including passenger taxi deliveries, on-demand delivery services, garbage collection, mobile solar water pumps and milk chilling, all powered by 100% green energy. Emerging in 2020 from the work of the ELICO non-profit foundation testing renewable energy applications, EKOglobe transformed in 2022 into a limited liability company.
Achievements
EKOglobe embarked on electric mobility projects in 2022 by testing out electric tricycles mounted with solar refrigerators, while studying the market of taxi services with three-wheelers (bajajs). By January 2023, the company started manufacturing some components locally while importing others, assembled and testes a total of 10 units.
As part SOLUTIONSplus, EKOglobe assembled 12 electric three-wheelers for passenger services, and trained 12 drivers. These batteries are dispatched to the 10 drivers offering taxi services, who access the vehicles on a lease-to-own basis with daily mobile money payments and battery exchange fees.
Innovation
By using two three-wheelers as mobile battery dispatching units, EKOglobe tests an innovative recharging solution, tested in India but not in East Africa yet. The technical specifications and the route selected for the pilot are based on the 2023 SOLUTIONSplus feasibility study to electrify existing three-wheelers near BRT stations.