Rivian Spinout Also Suspends Electric Motorcycle Project in Kenya to Prioritize Autonomous Vehicles

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Also, a startup spun out from Rivian, paused its electric motorcycle pilot in Kenya to focus on consumer e-bikes and developing small autonomous vehicles, facing supply chain hurdles with its first product launch.

Also, the micromobility startup founded as a spinout from electric vehicle maker Rivian in 2025, has discontinued an electric two-wheeler pilot project in Kenya earlier this year. The initiative, which received grant funding from the Shell Foundation, aimed to test a locally integrated electric motorcycle platform with plans to expand across East Africa. Also intended to develop modular batteries, distributed charging infrastructure, and an electric motorcycle suited to African riders. This move comes amid a growing electric motorcycle market in Africa, driven by strong demand and investments from Chinese companies and local players like Spiro, which operates over 130,000 e-motorcycles across seven countries.

In communications with TechCrunch, Also acknowledged exploring the Kenya project with a partner but chose to realign resources toward its core products after limited preliminary work. The Shell Foundation described the project’s goal narrowly as gathering evidence on driver income potential and commercial viability to better understand market opportunities, but further details remain confidential under a nondisclosure agreement.

Chris Yu, co-founder and president of Also, explained that while the pilot initially matched the company's mission to build cost-optimized, purpose-built small vehicles for specific markets, the urgency of advancing autonomous vehicle projects took priority. Also is collaborating with DoorDash on developing compact autonomous vehicles, which Yu believes have a higher chance of broad adoption in commercial micromobility compared to passenger vehicles.

Also's departure from the Kenya pilot overlaps with a challenging debut year post-Rivian spinout. The company faced significant supply chain disruptions that delayed production and delivery of its first product, the TM-B consumer electric bike. This premium e-bike combines complex electronics and hardware, described as a "computer on wheels," which made sourcing parts difficult amid global competition, including for materials used in AI data center circuit boards. Additionally, navigating certification hurdles across different regulatory bodies compounded challenges.

These complications led to frustrating delays and poor communication with customers who had reserved the TM-B, a misstep that Yu admitted. However, the company has since improved transparency and started deliveries in early October. User feedback has highlighted remaining issues like shipping damage and battery performance degradation.

Looking forward, Also plans to expand beyond consumer e-bikes into commercial cargo bikes, including innovative four-wheeled designs, targeting partnerships with companies like Amazon and DoorDash. Success with the TM-B launch is considered critical as the company navigates product refinement and scales toward broader commercial goals.