Pride and nervous excitement were the undercurrents running through the air at a garage at Foley’s East Africa, located opposite Galleria Mall, along Lang’ata Road in Nairobi. It was a week before the 2025 Rhino Charge and work was ongoing on the EV Explorer Vehicle that sought to write history.
In 35 editions, no electric car has ever competed at the notoriously challenging Rhino Charge event that is held in extremely challenging off-road conditions.
For Richard Kiplagat, Partner at Africa Practice and Team Lead as well as Runner for Car Number 29, a zero emissions car at Rhino Charge is a perfect match.
“The reality is that climate change impacts all of us, but it also impacts conservation. So, we asked ourselves, as we are doing Rhino Charge and as we’re trying to help conserve our biodiversity and environment, shouldn’t we be doing that in a more sustainable manner?”
Nick Foley who runs Foley’s East Africa is the man at the wheel literally and figuratively. He was the driver during the day of the charge but before that he led his team to get the EV car ready for the start line.
Nick, while proud of his team of Kenyans who have from scratch put together the EV car that has generated a buzz, kept his eye on the bigger prize.
“Success would be finishing, I think to finish in an EV in its first year would be a massive success. There’s a lot of hype around the vehicle. We want to do more than just start. We want to finish.”
Richard and Nick hope that this novel adventure further spurs the uptake of electric mobility in Kenya. And that it inspires more Kenyans to increasingly dabble in the areas of vehicle fabrication, vehicle design and vehicle energy systems.
M-PESA has sponsored the EV Explorers with a KES 800,000 contribution for the Rhino Charge.
This sponsorship is in line with Safaricom’s commitment to conservation and sustainability. This is demonstrated by the tech-co’s continuous improvement of energy and resource efficiency in its network and facilities to reduce carbon emissions and fuel consumption.
The 36th edition of the Rhino Charge was held in Baringo County on Saturday 31st May 2025 with 65 cars participating to raise funds to support Rhino Ark’s conservation work.
Watch the video below to learn more about the history making EV Explorer Vehicle.
