- Riders pay roughly KES 95,000 for a Spiro Kenya motorbike, but without a Spiro battery, non-purchasable, non-chargeable at home, and usable only through Spiro’s swap stations, the bike is effectively a metal shell.
- Spiro Kenya has since released an official statement attempting to contain the backlash.
- Spiro Kenya also acknowledged rider frustration, admitting the system may feel “rigid or frustrating” during illness, accidents, or emergencies, and said it is reviewing how exceptions are handled.
When Electric Motorcycle startup Spiro expanded into Kenya, Spiro Kenya’s electric motorbikes were sold as salvation for boda boda riders battered by runaway fuel prices and shrinking profits. Clean energy. Lower costs. A smarter future.
By mid-December 2025, that dream had collapsed into one of Kenya’s fiercest tech-and-labour revolts yet, with riders accusing the company of exploitation, coercive control, and what many now openly call “digital slavery.”
What began as one rider’s complaint exploded into a national reckoning over ownership, power, and who truly benefits from Kenya’s electric mobility push.
The post that lit the match
The firestorm began with viral posts from @IAMRAPCHA (Rapcha The Sayantist), a Spiro rider who shared screenshots, videos, and voice notes alleging that Spiro:
- Remotely disabled electric bikes
- Flagged batteries as “stolen” after five days of inactivity
- Grounded bikes even when inactivity was due to illness, breakdowns, or repairs
In raw, emotional posts that spread rapidly across X, Rapcha warned fellow riders:
“SPIRO ARE CRIMINALS!!! Avoid or lose your money!!! I’m a victim!!!”
Some posts clocked thousands of likes and hundreds of reposts within hours. Soon, other riders began sharing similar experiences or drawing chilling analogies.
One comparison stuck:
“This is like Safaricom disabling your SIM card because you didn’t make calls for five days.”
The Spiro repossession letter that changed everything
At the center of the outrage is a battery repossession notice issued by Africa Smart Mobility Solutions Limited, Spiro’s legal entity.
The letter states that a rider’s assigned EV battery had been identified as “dormant for a period exceeding five (5) consecutive days.” Under Spiro’s asset management policy, dormant batteries are subject to repossession.
Spiro lists several reasons:
- Ownership: The battery remains Spiro property
- Maintenance: Idle batteries risk degradation
- Availability: Dormant batteries limit access for active riders
- Business continuity: Batteries are income-generating assets
The notice reassures riders they remain “entitled to one active battery” through the standard swap system—once they resume operations.
To riders, that reassurance rang hollow.
A battery labelled “dormant” during hospitalisation, bereavement, mechanical repairs, or bad weather was treated the same as abandonment. No nuance. No human context.
Spiro responds and misses the moment
On December 15, Spiro Kenya released an official statement attempting to contain the backlash.
The company said:
- The notice relates to battery inactivity, not theft
- Batteries are Spiro-owned by design
- The model keeps bike prices low—about KES 95,000 compared to higher costs if batteries were included
- Battery swapping, not home charging, is a safety decision
Spiro also acknowledged rider frustration, admitting the system may feel “rigid or frustrating” during illness, accidents, or emergencies, and said it is reviewing how exceptions are handled.
It denied claims of bike confiscation and urged affected riders to contact the company for reactivation.
The response was widely seen and widely rejected.
Because it didn’t answer the question riders were asking:
If riders own the bike, why does removing a Spiro-owned battery disable the entire machine?
“A car without a fuel tank”
Riders pay roughly KES 95,000 for a Spiro bike. But without a Spiro battery—non-purchasable, non-chargeable at home, and usable only through Spiro’s swap stations—the bike is effectively a metal shell.
One viral post captured the frustration perfectly:
“It’s like buying a car without a fuel tank, then being told you can only refuel at one company’s stations—and they can shut you down remotely.”
In a widely shared thread, @omondike_ described the system as “modern-day bondage,” arguing that riders are trapped in a closed ecosystem where one company controls pricing, movement, repairs, and uptime.
That thread alone has racked up nearly 130,000 views, over 1,500 likes, and 700 reposts, pushing the debate beyond tech circles into mainstream Kenyan discourse.
Monopoly fears and spare-parts pain
Battery control is only part of the anger.
Spiro confirms that spare parts are distributed through vetted garages to ensure safety. Riders, however, describe a de facto monopoly.
Common complaints include:
- Spare parts priced far above ICE equivalents
- No freedom to repair bikes independently
- Disabled bikes requiring towing over long distances
- Long waits for approvals and replacements
For boda boda riders operating on razor-thin margins, these constraints don’t feel like innovation. They feel like dependency.
A backlash years in the making
This revolt didn’t appear overnight.
In November 2023, riders in Mombasa told Citizen TV that Spiro bikes suffered from slow battery swaps, frequent breakdowns, limited stations, and poor customer support. Some said the bikes struggled on steep terrain and long routes, leaving them parked more than ridden.
Trust further eroded in July 2024, when whistleblower Nelson Amenya alleged Spiro benefited from a controversial tax arrangement involving government officials, claims the company has not publicly addressed in detail. Those allegations resurfaced as the current backlash intensified.
Innovation vs human reality
To be fair, Spiro’s model isn’t unique. Battery-as-a-service is used globally to lower upfront costs and manage degradation. For many riders, it made electric bikes accessible.
But Kenya’s boda boda economy runs on informality, flexibility, and unpredictability—illness, funerals, rain, breakdowns, and bad weeks are part of life.
Systems designed to optimise assets don’t translate cleanly into livelihoods.
When technology starts disciplining people instead of serving them, backlash is inevitable.
What happens next?
As of December 20, public sentiment remains overwhelmingly negative. Despite PR efforts and influencer campaigns defending the model, calls for regulatory scrutiny, lawsuits, and boycotts continue.
Some riders still defend Spiro, arguing that no other electric bike comes close to its price point. But their voices are increasingly drowned out.
Spiro says it is reviewing how exceptional cases are handled. Whether that review produces meaningful policy change—or simply buys time—remains unclear.
One thing is now undeniable:
Kenya’s EV future cannot be built on innovation alone.
Trust, transparency, and dignity for riders are not optional features.
Electric mobility was supposed to offer more freedom than petrol bikes—not less.
Right now, to many riders, Spiro looks less like a green-energy saviour and more like a digitally enforced loan shark.