Shell Foundation, the FCDO and Kinetic Green Announce Partnership to Pilot Electric Two and Three Wheelers for African Markets

FCDO Scale Partnerships Transporters Mobility Electric Vehicles

London and Pune, 10 June 2026 — Shell Foundation, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions Ltd today announced a new partnership to pilot and adapt electric two and three wheelers for use in African markets, addressing one of the continent’s most persistent barriers to clean mobility: access to affordable, durable and market ready electric vehicles at sufficient scale to meet growing demand.

The partnership is supported by catalytic capital provided by Shell Foundation and the FCDO through its RIDE programme and the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform. This support is intended to help de-risk early market entry and adaptation costs that are typically difficult to finance through purely commercial capital.

Across African cities, demand for lowercost and cleaner transport is growing rapidly, particularly among transporters who rely on vehicles for income generation. This partnership will explore pathways to introduce additional supply into the market, alongside necessary adaptations for local operating conditions, and reliable charging and servicing.

It brings together Shell Foundation, an independent UKregistered charity focused on raising incomes while lowering emissions, the UK government and Kinetic Green, a scaled Indian electric vehicle manufacturer with experience in electric two and threewheelers.

Through this collaboration, the partners will test and adapt Kinetic Green’s electric two and threewheelers for African operating conditions, including road quality, payload requirements and patterns of high vehicle utilisation. The partnership aims to complement and strengthen existing local ecosystems, while expanding electric vehicle availability. The programme is structured around multicountry pilots designed to generate realworld evidence on productmarket fit, alongside learning on charging and service deployment required to support use at scale.

Commenting on the partnership:

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Across Africa, the challenge in electric mobility is often not demand, but supply particularly access to vehicles at sufficient scale that are affordable, durable and suited to how transporters actually work. By partnering with established manufacturers like Kinetic Green, we can test how proven technology from other markets can be responsibly adapted for African conditions and contribute to expanding the overall supply of high quality vehicles. This partnership, supported by UK Government funding, is about generating the evidence needed to inform future investment and demonstrate whether and how electric two and three wheelers can scale sustainably in African transport systems.

Jonathan Berman

Chief Executive Officer of Shell Foundation

On the occasion:

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"At Kinetic Green, we have always believed that electric mobility is far more than a sustainability story — for millions of people who depend on their vehicles to earn a living, it is a lifeline. Our journey in India has taught us that successful EVs are not designed in boardrooms; they are forged on real roads, under real loads, and in the hands of real people. Africa offers an opportunity of remarkable scale and diversity, where transporters deserve solutions built for their realities, not borrowed from elsewhere. Our partnership with Shell Foundation and the UK Government is a true act of co-creation — we bring deep manufacturing capability and years of road-tested learning, and together we will listen, adapt and build with African transporters at the centre. We are committed to generating credible evidence, making honest adaptations, and laying the foundation for electric mobility that can scale responsibly and sustainably across the continent.

Dr. Sulajja Firodia Motwani

Founder and CEO, Kinetic Green

Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions Ltd, part of India’s Kinetic Group, manufactures electric two wheelers, three wheelers and electric golf carts for personal and commercial use. The company has developed electric mobility products for mass markets in India and brings manufacturing capability and R&D experience to the partnership.