Kenya School Switches Entire Bus Fleet to Electric

Imagine your morning school commute helping save the planet instead of polluting it. That's now reality for students at School of the Nations in Kenya, which just became the first school in the country to switch to electric buses.

The school partnered with BasiGo, an East African startup that's been electrifying public transport, to bring 11 electric vehicles into their fleet this year. The first bus to arrive isn't even brand new, and that's actually the brilliant part.

BasiGo took a 25-seat BYD electric bus that spent three years carrying passengers on Nairobi's busy public routes and refurbished it to near-new condition. The result? A proven, durable vehicle at a price point schools can actually afford.

"This bus is a practical investment in both student well-being and the future," said Dr. Hwaock Im, the school's principal. "It allows our students to see sustainability in action, not just in textbooks, but in their daily commute."

The timing makes perfect sense. School buses follow predictable routes at set times, making them ideal candidates for electrification since charging schedules become simple to manage. Many can even charge using solar power during the day while sitting idle between morning dropoffs and afternoon pickups.

BasiGo will install charging stations right on the school grounds and provide all maintenance and service. The remaining 10 vehicles arriving later this year will be BasiGo Ma3E electric vans, completing the school's full transition away from diesel.

The company has already put 132 electric buses on East African roads. Those vehicles have traveled over 8.3 million kilometers, saved nearly 1.7 million liters of diesel, and avoided more than 4,500 tons of CO2 emissions while carrying over 11 million passengers.

The Ripple Effect

This partnership creates a blueprint other schools across Kenya and beyond can copy. By offering refurbished electric buses at lower costs, BasiGo removes the biggest barrier preventing schools from going electric: the price tag.

The model works because it extends the useful life of electric buses while making clean transport accessible to institutions that can't afford brand-new vehicles. Public transport operators typically secure bank loans for new buses, but schools operate on tighter budgets.

"We are creating a model that other institutions and schools across the country can replicate," said Jit Bhattacharya, BasiGo's CEO and co-founder. With Kenya's large school transport sector, the addressable market is massive.

For the students riding these quiet, emission-free buses every day, the lesson is clear: the sustainable future they're learning about in class is something they're actively building right now.