Kenya Removes 15,000 kWh Cap on EV Charging Tariff

Kenya's key shift is not a cheaper tariff but an uncapped one: EPRA removed the 15,000 kWh monthly limit on the e-mobility tariff. Peak power now costs Sh16 per kWh, off-peak Sh8, and that spread compounds on every unit a charging site sells.

The amendment to the 2023 tariff schedule was gazetted on September 18. The original tariff, launched in April 2023, charged Sh16 per kWh with Sh8 off-peak but capped the discount at 15,000 kWh a month. Volumes above the new threshold keep the discounted rate.

The arithmetic now works. Off-peak at Sh8 against peak at Sh16 is an 8-shilling spread. A depot using 20,000 kWh a month and shifting charging to off-peak saves about 1.92 million shillings a year. Demand justifies the change: consumption rose 300% to 5.04 GWh.

Three effects land on importers. More charging hosts will accept electric fleets, so post-sale range anxiety eases. Total cost of ownership becomes quotable: motorbike-taxi fuel runs Sh670 a day, the electric equivalent about Sh300. Procurement now turns on securing off-peak capacity.

Ask your Kenyan partner for three things: a cost-per-kilometre sheet at current peak and off-peak rates, the connectable off-peak capacity and connection lead time in your city, and a charging agreement with no volume ceiling. Then model a five-year TCO at 0.25 kWh per kilometre.