Why Electric Cars and Motorcycles are Becoming Hard to Miss in Kigali

KEY takeaways

• Kigali’s EV shift is most visible on two wheels, where electric motorcycle imports rose from just 4 in 2019 to 5,781 in 2024.
• Passenger cars are electrifying more gradually, but the pace is accelerating: Rwanda imported 1,555 fully electric cars between July 2025 and March 2026 alone.
• Rwanda accelerated the shift through tax incentives, battery-swapping infrastructure and restrictions on new petrol motorcycles.

I didn't travel to Kigali looking for an electric vehicle story, but then I started counting motorcycles.

During my visit in September, roughly 8 in every 10 motorcycles I observed on selected Kigali streets were electric. I also noticed electric and hybrid cars regularly, although I didn't count them systematically.

These were street observations, not official adoption rates. But after several days moving around Kigali, electric motorcycles in particular appeared so frequently that they stopped feeling unusual.

That would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago. In late 2022, electric motorcycles represented about 4.1% of Kigali’s authorized commercial motorcycle fleet. Less than four years later, they repeatedly outnumbered petrol bikes in my roadside count.

So, what changed?

Well, for one, Rwanda combined incentives that lowered some of the cost of going electric with infrastructure that made electric motorcycles practical, then changed the rules governing new commercial motorcycles in Kigali.

MORE INSIGHTS ON THIS TOPIC:

• CHART: The Top-Selling Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Brands in Q3 2023
• Global EV Sales Top 4 Million in Q4 2025 as Charging Infrastructure Struggles to Keep Up
• Global EV sales hit a record high in Q3 2025 as China and Europe drive a rapid market shift

Cars are electrifying more gradually

Rwanda had only 19 fully electric cars in 2020. By 2024, that number had risen to 512, according to Rwanda Revenue Authority data reported by The New Times.

Hybrids grew much faster, from 28 in 2021 to 6,660 by 2024.

Cars are electrifying more gradually

Hybrids still dominate in Rwanda’s passenger-car market, but fully electric-car adoption is accelerating.

Battery-electric cars are shown for 2020 and 2024. Hybrids are shown for 2021 and 2024.

1,555

fully electric cars imported

Jul 2025–Mar 2026

Source:

The New Times (RRA data); MININFRA

Note:

Passenger-car electrification remains less advanced than motorcycle electrification.

Illustration by:

Sietoyo Esitikott

The pace of fully electric adoption has since accelerated. Between July 2025 and March 2026 alone, Rwanda imported another 1,555 fully electric cars, according to Ministry of Infrastructure figures.