Why TCO and not price
An electric motorcycle usually costs more to buy than a petrol one of the same class. Comparing sticker prices therefore says nothing useful. Total Cost of Ownership adds energy, maintenance, financing and downtime over the vehicle's working life — and on that measure the electric boda wins clearly, because it is ridden 100–200 km a day.
Assumptions (Kenya, 2026)
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Daily distance | 150 km |
| Petrol price | 180 KES / litre |
| Petrol consumption | 45 km / litre |
| ICE maintenance | 4.63 KES / km (oil, chain, clutch, brakes, engine wear) |
| EV energy (grid/solar, via swaps) | 0.40 KES / km |
| EV maintenance | 2.08 KES / km (≈ 45% of ICE) |
| Battery-as-a-Service fee | 425 KES / bike / day |
| Working days | 360 / year |
| FX | 129 KES / USD |
These are the defaults of the interactive calculator on margtor.africa and of the /api/tools/tco endpoint; change any of them and the numbers below update.
Daily cost per motorcycle
Petrol (ICE)
- Fuel: 150 km ÷ 45 km/L × 180 KES = 600 KES
- Maintenance: 150 km × 4.63 = 695 KES
- Total ≈ 1,295 KES/day (≈ $10.03)
Electric with BaaS
- Energy: 150 × 0.40 = 60 KES
- Maintenance: 150 × 2.08 = 312 KES
- BaaS fee: 425 KES
- Total ≈ 797 KES/day (≈ $6.17)
Saving ≈ 498 KES per day, or 38.5%. Over 360 days that is ≈ 179,000 KES per motorcycle per year; over five years ≈ $6,900 per bike.
What the simple view hides
- Fuel volatility. The ICE line moves with every pump-price change; the EV line is contracted. For a rider, predictability has value on its own.
- Downtime. A petrol bike loses hours to fuel queues and workshop visits; a swap takes 45 seconds. We do not monetise this in the base case, but a fleet operator should.
- Financing. The battery-less EV is cheaper to finance; BaaS turns the battery into opex. Lenders like the cleaner collateral.
- Residual value. Still uncertain for EVs in East Africa; LFP packs with telematics history should hold value better than unknown-history ICE engines.
Fleet view
For a 50-bike fleet at the defaults: ≈ 747,000 KES saved per month and ≈ $345,000 over five years. These savings are what makes a swap network pay back in 8–10 months and what allows a SACCO to finance vehicles from the fuel money its members already spend.
Rerun it for your fleet
Use the calculator at https://margtor.africa/#economics or call GET https://margtor.africa/api/tools/tco?km_per_day=150&petrol_kes_per_litre=180&fleet_size=50. AI agents can call the same logic through the MargTor MCP server tool calculate_tco.
See also: Battery-as-a-Service · The boda-boda economy · Telematics and credit.