Submitted
2025 Global Climate Challenge

Engine To Electric Converters

Team Leader
ASIIMIRE JUSTINE
At power wheels electricals we convert gas-powered boda-boda motorcycles into affordable electric vehicles (EVs) through a woman-led model involving retrofitting technology, pay-as-you-go funding and skill training. How It Works, Conversion Kits. We convert gas bikes with locally produced EV kits (battery, motor, controller) cutting fuel costs by 70% and emissions by 90%. Inclusive Financing. Women receive conversions at a pay...
What is the name of your organization?
Power Wheels Electricals
What is the name of your solution?
Engine To Electric Converters
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
We convert fuel motorcycles into electric and provide flexible payment options for female commercial riders.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kampala, Uganda
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
UGA
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Uganda, the urban transport backbone is commercial motorcycle taxis (boda-bodas) that are fossil fuel-based which leads to a double crisis of exorbitant operating expenses for commercial riders and intense environmental degradation (every gas motorcycle emits ~1.5 tons of CO₂ annually). Only 12% of Uganda's 1.2 million riders are women and they are trapped in low-paying jobs as drivers or passengers and transport accounts for 12% of national emissions. Transport around the world accounts for 20% of CO₂ and poor countries bear the health and economic burden of air pollution. Locally, 1.2 million gas motorcycles in Uganda emit 1.8 million tons of CO₂ every year. Women face 60% higher loan rejection rates which traps them in poverty. Global, 75% of transportation emissions are from road transport. Transition to EVs would cut 70% of city air pollution mortality.
What is your solution?
At power wheels electricals we convert gas-powered boda-boda motorcycles into affordable electric vehicles (EVs) through a woman-led model involving retrofitting technology, pay-as-you-go funding and skill training. How It Works, Conversion Kits. We convert gas bikes with locally produced EV kits (battery, motor, controller) cutting fuel costs by 70% and emissions by 90%. Inclusive Financing. Women receive conversions at a pay as you go basis enabling them to repay with flexible mobile payments tied to earnings (daily/weekly). Training. We upskill women in EV maintenance and entrepreneurship hence creating jobs in a male-dominated sector. Technology. Our kits employ lithium-ion batteries (150km range) and IoT-enabled tracking for payment compliance and battery swaps. Impact. 71 bikes converted, 25 tons CO₂ reduced, 100+ women trained.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We target all commercial motorcycle riders while special emphasis is put to poor women commercial motorcycle riders and Ugandan businesswomen who are a demographic systematically excluded from transportation ownership by economic barriers (80% are unbanked and lack loan access) and patriarchal cultural norms in the male-dominated boda-boda market. Our target customers face exorbitant upfront charges of up to $300 plus per conversion which locks women out of EV benefits. Only 1 in 100 motorbike riders are women and they are mostly passenger riders earning less than $3 a day. The 40% of riders' income spent on fuel and gas bikes that pollute neighborhoods. How We Change Lives. Pay-as-you-go finance enables women to own EVs hence doubling incomes by eliminating fuel costs. EV maintenance training provides jobs (80% of our technicians are female). Zero-emission bikes reduce respiratory disease which are responsible for 28% of Kampala hospital admissions and CO₂.
Solution Team:
ASIIMIRE JUSTINE
ASIIMIRE JUSTINE
CEO