Spiro acquires Coexlion, plans Kenya R&D centre

By Natalie Hughes 31/05/2026 4 min read 51 views

Spiro, a company that bills itself as one of Africa’s largest electric two-wheeler operators, has acquired the engineering firm Coexlion and announced plans to open its first African research and development centre in Kenya. The acquisition is meant to speed up the development of electric motorcycles built specifically for African roads, rider habits, and customer needs, the company said.

Coexlion’s engineering team has worked on more than 25 motorcycle programs around the world, including electric two-wheelers, chassis and frame design, reliability engineering, battery systems, and industrial design, according to Spiro. The firm operates from offices in India and the United Kingdom.

By folding Coexlion into its operations, it says it will accelerate product development cycles and improve how it localizes components and vehicle architecture. Spiro already runs a research and development centre in Pune, India, with more than 150 engineers and holds over 30 proprietary patents.

A first R&D hub in Africa

Spiro currently assembles electric motorcycles in several African markets. It has active assembly plants in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria. The planned R&D centre in Kenya will be the company’s first engineering hub on the continent, focused on developing and localizing electric mobility technologies for African markets.

The company is also expanding its battery-swapping infrastructure for electric two-wheelers across Africa. They say it operates the continent’s fastest-growing battery-swapping network and aims to grow electric mobility infrastructure and manufacturing capacity where adoption of electric motorcycles is rising.

Several startups and larger firms are trying to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of charging infrastructure versus vehicle demand. Spiro’s approach leans heavily on battery swapping, which lets riders exchange depleted batteries for charged ones in minutes rather than waiting at a plug.

Why Kenya for the R&D centre

Kenya already hosts one of Spiro’s assembly plants, so putting an engineering hub there makes logistical sense. The country also has a growing pool of technical talent and a government that has shown interest in electric mobility, though policy support is still uneven across the region.

On paper, the Coexlion acquisition gives Spiro deeper engineering bench strength without having to build everything from scratch. The Indian-UK firm brings experience from more than two dozen motorcycle programs, which could help Spiro avoid common design mistakes that happen when global electric vehicle platforms are simply dropped into African conditions without adaptation.

Road conditions in many African markets range from paved highways to rough dirt tracks, and rider usage patterns can be quite different from those in Europe or Asia. Motorcycles are often used for commercial transport — carrying passengers or goods — rather than just personal commuting. That means durability, load capacity, and ease of repair matter more than top speed or luxury features.

Spiro did not disclose the financial terms of the Coexlion acquisition. It declined to say how many engineers from Coexlion would move to the Kenya facility or when construction would begin.

The R&D centre is expected to focus on localising components and vehicle architecture — basically making sure parts can be sourced or manufactured within Africa, rather than shipped from overseas. That could lower costs and shorten supply chains, which is important for keeping electric motorcycles affordable.

Affordability remains a big barrier in African markets. Even with lower fuel costs, the upfront price of an electric motorcycle is often higher than a petrol model. Battery-swapping networks help by separating the cost of the battery from the vehicle, but they require significant capital to build out.

Spiro says it is one of Africa’s largest electric two-wheeler companies, but exact sales figures are not publicly audited. Its battery-swapping network is expanding, though coverage remains thin outside major cities. The company faces competition from local assemblers and from larger players like Ampersand and Kibo Electric, both of which are also pushing into East Africa.

For now, the acquisition and the planned R&D centre signal that Spiro is betting on long-term growth in African electric mobility, not just quick sales. Whether that bet pays off will depend on how well the company adapts its technology — and how fast the market for electric two-wheelers actually grows.