Solar-Powered Cars Spark Tunisia’s Green Mobility Revolution

Africa’s electric vehicle (EV) industry is entering a transformative era, expected to hit a market value of $4.2 billion by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence. While most EVs rely on electricity from mixed sources, Tunisian startup Bako Motors is pioneering a cleaner path — harnessing the sun’s energy to power its compact cars and cargo vans.

Each Bako Motors vehicle comes fitted with solar panels that charge lithium batteries directly, allowing drivers to travel using renewable energy. These cars can also be plugged into standard outlets when needed. Although production is still small, with around 100 vehicles built so far, the company aims to ramp up manufacturing and expand exports in the coming year.

Founder and CEO Boubaker Siala explained that the solar panels supply more than half of the vehicles’ total energy needs. “For our B-Van model, drivers can travel up to 50 kilometers daily — that’s around 17,000 kilometers a year — using free, solar power,” he said.

The company, founded in 2021, initially produced three-wheeled cargo vehicles but has since evolved into building more advanced four-wheeled models. The B-Van, designed for logistics and delivery, can carry up to 400 kilograms and travel between 100 to 300 kilometers per charge, with a starting price of about $8,500. Its smaller model, the Bee, is a two-seater city car built for daily commutes, covering 70 to 120 kilometers per charge, priced around $6,200.

Affordable, Local, and Built for Africa

According to COO Khaled Habaieb, Bako Motors plans to release a third model — the X-Van — designed to carry two passengers and additional cargo. Impressively, over 40% of the vehicle components are sourced locally, including steel and lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. This approach not only reduces production costs but also creates local jobs and stimulates Tunisia’s manufacturing sector.

While companies like Aptera Motors in the U.S. are also building solar-integrated vehicles, Bako Motors offers a unique advantage — affordability and local relevance. Similar vehicles overseas can cost upwards of $30,000, placing them out of reach for most African buyers.

Africa’s e-mobility landscape is diverse, with companies like BasiGo running e-buses in Kenya and Rwanda, and Spiro distributing electric motorbikes across seven countries. Still, Bako Motors stands out for integrating solar power to extend driving range — a major solution to “range anxiety,” one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption.

Experts, including Bob Wesonga from the Africa E-Mobility Alliance, see solar integration as a game-changer. “If an EV can go 250 kilometers on battery and solar adds another 50, that’s confidence for consumers,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Bako Motors is expanding production with a new factory in Tunisia set to open in 2026, targeting output of 8,000 vehicles annually for markets across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

Siala envisions capturing 5–10% of Africa’s 1 million annual vehicle market, emphasizing that the next decade will define the continent’s EV transformation. “This is Africa’s moment to embrace sustainable, affordable mobility,” he said. “Our goal is to make clean transport accessible to every citizen.”