Stage of Innovation: MVP (You have a product ready to go to the market)

Problem: Over 1.1 million premature deaths in Africa are attributed to poor air quality, costing the government nearly Ł200 billion annually (WHO 2021). According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), motorcycles are 16 times worse than cars for pollution. They make up less than 1% of vehicle miles but account for 13% of CO2 emissions from passenger vehicles. Range is a significant concern for electric motorcycles (EMs) even more than cars. Moonlight Energy's technology addresses this concern with a sustainable Battery as a Service model (BaaS). Our mission is to make last-mile transport sustainable, affordable and efficient in sub-Saharan Africa by providing a portable battery swap network for electric motorcycles and tricycles. Our battery swap solution addresses the range concern for EMs and saves over 1.12 kgCO2e per motorcycle annually. In this project, we will demonstrate the relevance of battery swapping as a service for net-zero targets in Africa.

Unique Selling Point: Moonlight energy is proposing Swap-it, a portable battery swap network for electric motorcycles with smart user data, insights, and notifications via mobile. Our swap stations are small, modular, and efficient and can be scaled up and down to suit demand. Swap-it saves riders over 1.12 kg CO2e per motorcycle per year. Battery-swapping technology reverses this vicious circle that larger batteries bring for bikes, where more kWh means more weight. Moonlight Energy’s mission with Swap-it is to provide a network of battery-swap stations allowing dead batteries to be replaced with fresh ones in a matter of seconds—faster, cheaper, and cleaner than even filling a petrol tank would be, this makes stopping regularly to do swap less of a chore. In Nigeria for example, moving around can be quite challenging. In most parts of the country, tricycles and motorcycles are the easiest ways to circumvent traffic and bad roads. Based on importation data from Nigerian customs, about 8 million registered motorcycles and 400,000 tricycles are on Nigerian roads. They are locally referred to as ‘Okada’ and 'Keke' respectively. These motorcycles and tricycles all run on gas and contribute significantly to the CO2 and noise pollution in the country, To validate our proposition, we conducted a survey on motorcycle riders in Lagos, Nigeria and measured their wiliness and challenges to going electric. 75% of riders surveyed were keen to go electric. However, over 80% of them highlighted cost and range as one of their top concerns. Decarbonizing local transport will have positive effects on equality, diversity, and inclusion. The transition to low-carbon technologies has the potential to create new jobs and economic opportunities, particularly in sectors such as renewable energy and EV manufacturing. This would assist the government’s levelling up agenda and benefit disadvantaged communities and individuals who may otherwise have limited employment opportunities.