Also exits Kenya electric-motorcycle pilot to prioritize autonomous vehicles

Also has stepped away from an early-stage electric two-wheeler pilot in Kenya, putting its own roadmap ahead of the project, TechCrunch reported on November 3. The company says Shell Foundation grant funding will stay with the effort. Its president cited the urgency of autonomous-vehicle development as a reason to concentrate resources elsewhere.

A Kenya pilot with regional ambitions

The small-vehicle startup, which spun out of Rivian in 2025, began the Kenya effort earlier this year. It worked with an unnamed partner and received a Shell Foundation grant of an undisclosed amount.

A since-removed section of the foundation's website described a locally integrated electric two-wheeler platform, starting in Kenya with potential to reach other East African markets. According to TechCrunch, the stated aim was to help vehicle manufacturers enter Africa's electric-vehicle market by testing the approach locally and reducing the risks of entry.

The planned work extended beyond designing a motorcycle. The webpage described modular battery designs and charging infrastructure spread across multiple locations, alongside a purpose-built electric motorcycle for African riders. Those were planned elements of the pilot, not completed products.

The foundation described the pilot's purpose in terms of evidence: whether it could improve drivers' incomes, how the vehicles would perform in operation, and whether the business could be commercially viable. The project was intended to deepen Also's understanding of the market opportunity, rather than establish that those benefits had already been achieved.

Autonomy takes precedence

In a September email to TechCrunch, Also said it had completed only some early-stage work before deciding to focus on its core roadmap. Co-founder and president Chris Yu explained that choice further during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt in October.

Yu said the pilot initially fit Also's mission of building small vehicles tailored to a particular market and optimized for the cost of doing a specific job. But work on small autonomous vehicles, which Also is pursuing with DoorDash, took priority. He pointed to the urgency and pace of autonomy development as the reason for narrowing the company's near-term attention.

We piloted and ultimately decided, largely because of just urgency and pace around autonomy, frankly, that our attention would be best, in the near term, served fully focused

Chris Yu, Also co-founder and president, speaking to TechCrunch at Disrupt

The grant is meant to follow the project

Also's departure does not, in the company's account, mean the grant-backed work must end. It told TechCrunch that the Shell Foundation funding would follow the project to support its ongoing development, but declined to explain the arrangement. That leaves the project's continuation as Also's stated plan, without a disclosed handoff or operating structure.

The foundation also declined TechCrunch's requests for more detail, citing a nondisclosure agreement with Also. Days after those questions, the project disappeared from its website. Also has explained why it left; how the remaining effort will move from early-stage work toward the foundation's income, performance and commercial tests remains unresolved.