Kenya’s new EV charging rules: How electric-car costs could change

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has amended Kenya Power's electricity tariff schedule to remove the previous 15,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) monthly limit on the special e-mobility category.

The change was published in the Kenya Gazette on September 18, 2026.

Under the revised arrangement, e-mobility customers supplied and metered by Kenya Power at 240 or 415 volts continue to fall under a dedicated tariff, while consumption above the applicable energy threshold is handled through the discounted Time-of-Use (TOU) structure rather than simply losing the preferential arrangement.

For new e-mobility customers, the threshold is calculated using average consumption during their first three consecutive months, with a growth factor applied.

A charging business is no longer automatically penalized for becoming a bigger charging business.

How much does EV electricity cost?

Kenya's dedicated e-mobility tariff was introduced in 2023.

The current energy charge is Sh16 per kWh during normal periods and Sh8 per kWh during off-peak periods, with the off-peak rate effectively half the standard e-mobility energy charge.

The tariff applies to electricity supplied to qualifying EV charging and battery-swapping infrastructure, and EPRA's charging guidelines also provide for its application to domestic charging, subject to the required metering arrangements.

But Sh8 or Sh16 is not necessarily the amount an EV owner pays at a public charger.

Charging is a commercial service.

Operators have to recover the cost of chargers, installation, grid connection, maintenance, software, land, staff and other operating expenses.

Public chargers can therefore charge considerably more than the underlying electricity tariff.

For example, BasiGo and Rubis have announced an indicative Sh48 per kWh rate at their highway charging sites.

Removing the ceiling

The old 15,000-kWh limit became increasingly restrictive as electric mobility expanded.

A busy charging hub, electric-bus depot or battery-swapping network can consume more electricity as more vehicles use the service.

Once the old ceiling was reached, operators could face higher-cost electricity, squeezing their margins or forcing them to pass some of the cost to motorists.

EPRA's latest change removes that fixed barrier and gives businesses more room to expand under the e-mobility tariff.

The regulator recorded e-mobility electricity consumption rising 300% to 5.04 gigawatt-hours in the year to June 2025, up from 1.26 GWh a year earlier.

Kenya Power says electricity sales to the e-mobility sector generated Sh382 million cumulatively between July 2023 and April 2026, while monthly revenue reached Sh35.25 million in February 2026.

The utility projects the sector could generate Sh5.9 billion in electricity sales by 2030.

Kenya's EV market

The tariff change arrives as the number of electric vehicles on Kenyan roads rises sharply.

The Ministry of Roads and Transport said Kenya had registered 39,324 EVs cumulatively by the end of 2025, up from 1,378 in 2022.

Electric motorcycles account for a substantial share of that growth, reflecting the popularity of boda bodas, delivery services and other high-mileage commercial transport.

Kenya formally launched its National Electric Mobility Policy in February 2026, covering charging infrastructure, vehicle manufacturing and assembly, technical skills, regulation and investment.

New safety rules

The changes are not only about price.

Kenya's Electricity (Electric Vehicle Charging Station Safety) Regulations, 2026 set technical and safety requirements for charging-station owners, installers, contractors, importers and retailers.

Charging stations must be properly designed, installed, tested, certified and inspected. Operators are required to conduct periodic safety assessments at least annually, keep assessment records for five years and take unsafe charging equipment out of service.

The rules also prohibit practices such as using unsuitable extension leads, unapproved adapters or multiple supply leads for charging.

That creates a more formal regulatory framework as Kenya's charging network expands.

What changes for an EV owner?

The immediate change is not a guaranteed reduction in the amount appearing on a charging receipt.

Instead, the new tariff removes a cost barrier behind the charging network.

For motorists, the potential benefit is greater capacity:

More charging stations, more battery-swapping points and more electric fleets operating at scale without the old 15,000-kWh ceiling distorting their electricity costs.