ROAM rolls out solar-powered electric motorcycle hubs for fast charging and battery rentals
ROAM – one of Kenya’s leading electric mobility companies – continues to expand its enterprise with new innovations to help electrify Africa’s roads and promote sustainability. Today, the company introduced the ROAM Hub – a multi-purpose electric motorcycle charging station that offers battery swaps, fast chargers, maintenance, and more.
ROAM is a Kenyan electric mobility company with Swedish roots that was founded in 2017 under its original monicker – Opibus. In a short period of time, we’ve watched the startup evolve into a genuine EV developer in Africa, signing deals with mobility juggernauts like Uber, and deploying all-electric transit buses to reduce air and noise pollution on busy streets in Kenya.
In addition to electric conversions of combustion vehicles used for mining and the all-electric buses, ROAM has been developing and deploying electric motorcycles – a huge mobility segment in Africa – for years now.
Last summer, we saw ROAM launch the production version of its Air electric motorcycle, complete with two swappable battery packs and DC fast charging capabilities. Its demand led the company to expand its production footprint to a new headquarters in Nairobi earlier this year, capable of producing 50,000 Air bikes annually.
To support the growing number of ROAM electric motorcycles hitting roads around Kenya, ROAM has begun deploying innovative new charging hubs positioned to help incentivize a huge industry in Kenya to go electric.
ROAM hubs to support electric motorcycle taxi charging
Today, the company announced it has opened Africa’s first ROAM Hub, beginning with an initial rollout of three sites across busy urban traffic areas in Kenya’s Nairobi county.
The hubs offer a relatively small footprint to serve Air electric motorcycle owners with their charging needs, whether it’s a fast charge or a battery rental swap. They are also partially powered using solar energy, adding further sustainability to the electric mobility company’s mission.
ROAM states that the hubs also allow for EVs from its partners (electric bicycles so far) to be serviced and recharged. In addition to the electric motorcycle charging capabilities, ROAM hubs are equipped with spare parts and operated by trained technicians who can aid in maintenance and repair more quickly. In addition to the charging and maintenance perks, electric motorcycle owners can also visit a local ROAM Hub to publicly access software updates.
This convenience and versatility was all taken into account when ROAM designed its new Hub, stating it was specifically targeted toward boda-boda operators – an abundant motorcycle taxi industry.
With so many boda-boda bikes on roads, noise and air pollution has become a serious issue in the area, and a huge factor in ROAM’s mission to help decarbonize the entire industry. By offering a more convenient and holistic charging experience, the company looks to attract more boda-boda drivers to switch to one of its electric motorcycles. ROAM’s energy & charging product manager Habib Lukaya elaborated:
At ROAM, we believe that simplifying the charging experience is essential to electric motorcycle adoption and customer satisfaction. We are confident that this hassle-free charging experience is what will eventually turn the boda-boda industry electric.
Looking ahead, ROAM told Electrek it will continue to add locations to its Hub network in the coming months and intends to have 15 Hubs in operation by the end of 2023. Check out the company’s latest video of the ROAM hub in action below.
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EQORE, a distributed battery storage startup based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding to help industrial buildings tackle rising electricity costs. The round was oversubscribed and includes backing from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Henry Ford III of Ford Motor Company, and Jonathan Kraft of The Kraft Group.
The timing couldn’t be more relevant. Data centers are booming, and that demand is slamming an already stressed grid. Big, utility-scale batteries help at the grid level, but they can’t fix the bottlenecks happening on local distribution networks. That’s where onsite storage steps in — storing energy when demand is low and discharging it when demand spikes, which helps stabilize costs for both the grid and the businesses using it.
MassCEC’s head of investments, Susan Stewart, said, “What excites us the most about EQORE’s technology is the dual impact: grid support and customer savings.” She noted that commercial and industrial buildings are ideal hosts for battery storage, but haven’t gotten much attention until now. “EQORE is closing that gap.”
Investor Randolph Mann highlighted what makes the company stand out: “By uniting advanced controls with high‑resolution metering and true end‑to‑end service, EQORE finally makes commercial behind-the-meter storage effortless and financially compelling for businesses.”
EQORE comes out of MIT’s Sandbox program and delta v accelerator and is currently part of the Harvard Climate Entrepreneurs Circle incubator. CEO and cofounder Valeriia Tyshchenko, a third‑generation engineer from Ukraine and MIT graduate, said the new funding will help the company scale alongside its existing revenue.
With the seed round closed, EQORE plans to grow its team and ramp up battery deployments at energy-intensive manufacturing facilities. The company doesn’t just install batteries; it operates them. Its autonomous software shifts when a facility uses power based on market conditions and utility incentives, reshaping load in real-time without disrupting operations.
Read more: Battery boom: 5.6 GW of US energy storage added in Q2
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![Check out Hyundai's cool new off-road electric SUV concept [Images]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/Hyundai-off-road-SUV.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Hyundai took the sheets of its new off-road electric SUV, the Crater Concept, at the LA Auto Show. Here’s our first look at the compact off-roader.
Meet Hyundai’s new off-road SUV, the Crater Concept
We knew it was coming after Hyundai teased the off-road SUV earlier this week, hidden under a drape. Hyundai took the sheets off the Crater Concept at the LA Auto Show on Thursday, giving us our first real look at the rugged off-roader.
Hyundai refers to it as a compact off-road SUV that’s inspired by extreme events. The concept was brought to life at the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California.
The off-road SUV draws design elements from Hyundai’s Extra Rugged Terrain (XRT) models, such as the IONIQ 5 XRT, Santa Cruz XRT, and the new Pallisade XRT Pro.
Although it’s a concept, Hyundai said the Crater Concept is a testament to its commitment to designing future XRT vehicles that are more functional, more capable, and more emotional.
“CRATER began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer,” Hyundai’s global design boss, SangYup Lee said.
The off-road SUV features Hyundai’s new Art of Steel design theme, first showcased on the THREE concept at the Munich Motor Show in September.
Hyundai said the design team was guided by one clear goal: To create a rugged and capable vehicle that’s designed to go anywhere. The Crater Concept embodies that vision with added wide skid plates, 33″ off-road tires, limb risers, rocker panels, and a roof platform.
Hyundai designed the interior for “tech-savvy adventure seekers,” with a singular design centered around a high-brow crash pad that stretches across the dashboard.
The concept also swaps the traditional infotainment setup for a head-up display that spans the entire front window, which Hyundai said includes a live rearview camera.
Hyundai’s off-roader includes a new Off-Road Controller for front and rear locking differentials, as well as a terrain selector with modes including Sand, Snow, and Mud. Other off-road features include downhill brake control, trailer brake control, a compass, and an altimeter.
Although Hyundai said it was electric, it didn’t reveal any further details about the powertrain. The off-road SUV could be a battery-electric or fuel-cell-electric vehicle.
Like the new Nexo, Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the concept features “HTWO” lamps exclusive to its FCEVs.
Earlier this week, the design team at Hyundai Design North America also introduced its new design and ideation studio codenamed “The Sandbox.” The creative design studio is set to serve as a global hub for future XRT vehicles and gear.
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OpenAI is partnering with Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, to design and build artificial intelligence data center components in the U.S., the AI startup’s latest announcement tied to its massive infrastructure development plans.
While no financial terms were disclosed, OpenAI said in Thursday’s announcement that it will have early access to evaluate the systems Foxconn produces, and the option to purchase them. The companies said the goal is to accelerate the deployment of infrastructure while securing long-term U.S. capacity.
Under the agreement, OpenAI and Foxconn will co-develop multiple generations of AI servers in parallel, while manufacturing core components like power, networking, and cooling systems at Foxconn’s U.S. facilities. The company’s website says it has factories in Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Indiana.
“This partnership is a step toward ensuring the core technologies of the AI era are built here,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement, calling AI infrastructure a “generational opportunity to reindustrialize America.”
OpenAI has been on a dealmaking blitz of late with many of the world’s largest technology companies, and has announced spending commitments of roughly $1.4 trillion, raising concerns about whether the startup will ever generate enough profit to justify those investments. Altman said earlier this month that the company will hit $20 billion in annualized revenue by the end of this year and hundreds of billions by 2030.
Prior deals include a $100 billion announced — but unfinalized — agreement with Nvidia for the chipmaker to invest in OpenAI in phases as the company builds out infrastructure. OpenAI also has cloud partnerships with Microsoft, Google and Amazon and hefty compute buildout commitments with Oracle.
Foxconn adds a manufacturing layer, further localizing OpenAI’s supply chain and potentially speeding the pace of deployment. The company is best known for assembling Apple’s iPhones but has expanded into AI and automotive manufacturing. It builds server racks tailored for AI workloads and is a key global supplier to Nvidia, the dominant player in high-end AI chips.
“Foxconn is uniquely positioned to support OpenAI’s mission with trusted, scalable infrastructure,” said Chairman Young Liu.
But the company has a checkered history in the U.S. In 2018, Foxconn broke ground on what was supposed to be a massive factory in Wisconsin for making flat-panel displays. That project was a failure, and is now the site of an AI data center being built by Microsoft.
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