Kenyan motorcycle company ARC Ride has launched an electric delivery bike in South Africa. The bike is called the Panther and is priced from R22 500.
The Panther was unveiled in Cape Town in September, TechCentral reported. Riders do not charge the battery themselves. They swap a flat battery for a charged one at an ARC Hub or an unmanned swap cabinet.
A full swap costs R50 and gives up to 110km of range. Partial swaps are billed according to how much power the rider uses.
“We’re seeing interest from some of South Africa’s largest delivery fleets, and the conversation goes well beyond cost savings compared with traditional petrol motorcycles,” Mikael Cloete, managing director of ARC Ride South Africa, told TechCentral. He did not name the fleets.
ARC Ride said a 125cc petrol bike burns more than R59 in fuel per 100km at about R27 a litre. It said the Panther costs about R45.45 per 100km, which is about 23% less.
TechCentral reported that the comparison holds inland, where 95 unleaded cost R26.92 a litre after the 2 September adjustment. At the coastal price of R26.05 a litre, the saving falls to about 20%.
Central Energy Fund data reported on 28 September pointed to a rise of about R3.06 a litre for 95 unleaded on 7 October. That would take the inland price to about R29.98 a litre. On ARC Ride’s numbers, a swap would then be about 30% cheaper than petrol.
Cloete said the company has hubs in Randburg, Centurion and Lyndhurst in Gauteng. It also has hubs at Paarden Eiland and Claremont in Cape Town. A sixth hub, in Bellville, is due to open in October.
He said the hubs are supported by a growing network of unmanned battery swap cabinets. He did not say how many there are. Fleet partners in Gauteng and the Western Cape offer the bike on rental and lease.
ARC Ride’s press release promised riders “up to 20% more net earnings”. TechCentral asked the company about the claim. The detail in the release described savings on weekly running costs, not extra income.
Spokesperson Justus Visagie said the figure is a cut of up to 20% in weekly operating costs, “not a 20% rise in earnings”. He said the release is being corrected.
“How much that lifts take-home pay depends on what a rider earns,” Visagie told TechCentral. He said the estimate is modelled on the company’s operations in other African markets. It was not measured on South African fleets.
The release also said the bikes cut carbon emissions by up to 85% compared with a petrol bike. TechCentral reported that this figure comes from a Nairobi study by Stellenbosch University’s Electric Mobility Lab. The study assumes Kenya’s power grid.
On South Africa’s grid, the same inputs give a cut of roughly 36%, TechCentral reported. The cut would be bigger if the bikes are charged from solar power.
The Western Cape government helped the company with registration, homologation and compliance. ARC Ride said these steps were completed “within months”.
In the release, Premier Alan Winde said moving delivery fleets onto electric two-wheelers “helps reduce our carbon footprint and ease congestion in one of the world’s most congested cities”.
A 2025 Cape Town study by the Stellenbosch lab modelled 39 005 delivery trips by 385 motorcycles. The trips took place in Gardens and Rondebosch over 14 days. The study found the fleet could shrink to 125 electric bikes without losing service.
ARC Ride was founded in Nairobi in 2019 and is led by chief executive Joseph Hurst-Croft. On 8 September it raised $33.3 million in asset-backed debt and equity. The round was led by Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22.
The company plans to add 5 000 motorcycles to its fleet.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.