Inspiration

⚙️ E-motion: Building Locally-Assembled Electric Bikes for Africa's Mobility and Learning Systems 💡 Project Origin E-motion started with a simple need: mobility under constraint. Growing up without access to conventional transport, I built my first bicycle from scrap. That experience sparked an engineering mindset rooted in functional improvisation, cost efficiency, and human-centered design—principles that still define our work today.

🛠️ What We Built E-motion is a resource-aware electric bicycle platform, locally assembled and designed for rugged, hilly terrain. It is optimized for:

Low power usage, using custom lithium-ion battery systems sized for short-to-mid range, not overdesigned capacity.

Repairability in decentralized rural environments, using locally available mechanical parts and open-component design.

Educational reusability, enabling users to disassemble and learn core EV system principles.

We prototype in modules, reducing component complexity and computational overhead where unnecessary. Control logic is kept lightweight and deterministic—no dependence on cloud APIs or unnecessary connectivity.

🔍 How We Solve for Constraints Constraint Our Solution Limited power infrastructure Efficient motor-controller pairs with regenerative braking (optional), solar charging compatibility Lack of repair ecosystems Bikes designed to use existing spare part networks (bush mechanics, local garages) Expensive imports Local fabrication + modular frame design = 30–40% cost reduction over imports No connectivity Fully offline-capable, no telemetry lock-in or OTA dependencies Technical training gaps Hands-on workshops where learners assemble the bike themselves, promoting deep understanding

🔧 “Our EV design is optimized not for spec sheets, but for the roads, hands, and workshops that actually exist.”

🎓 Learning System Innovation We integrate E-motion into schools via workshops where students and local artisans assemble working EV bikes using quality parts and guided schematics. This builds:

Systems thinking: electrical, mechanical, energy

Hardware fluency: tools, sensors, wiring

Confidence in African engineering: “We built this here”

The educational experience is lean, reusable, and designed to run entirely offline.

⚡ Technical Summary Battery System: Swappable lithium-ion packs, 36V 10Ah

Motor: 250–350W rear hub motor, efficient torque biasing

Controller: Open-source, no-cloud dependency

Chassis: Welded steel frame, modular mounting for cargo or battery packs

Compute: No onboard heavy processing—logic resides in microcontroller (e.g. Arduino-based)

Range

𝑉 ⋅ 𝐴 ℎ ⋅ 𝜂 motor 𝑃 avg ≈ 35   km Range= P avg ​

V⋅Ah⋅η motor ​

​ ≈35km

🔩 Challenges We Navigated Balancing performance vs simplicity: Over-engineering adds fragility in African contexts.

Sourcing consistent local materials: We iterated rapidly using what was available.

Scaling training: Keeping kits reproducible across schools with low tool dependency.

What it does

How we built it

Challenges we ran into

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we learned

What's next for E-Motion Technologies

Built With

• motors