Rolling Into Addis: A Convoy of Hope and Electric Momentum – Adama to Addis Ababa
Road to Addis – Day 5: Charging into Ethiopia
Day five began in Moyale, after a restless night by the border. Ten team members had shared five small rooms as customs delays kept the convoy’s electric vehicles stranded overnight. The morning brought new hope and a breakfast of flatbread, pasta, and eggs, before returning to customs to finalize clearance. Thankfully, this time, the process went smoothly .
Once cleared, the team faced another challenge, since none of the vehicles had charged overnight. We needed to drive 8 kilometers into Ethiopia, where the Ethiopian Electric Utility Company had prepared a charging site since the day before. There, the vehicles plugged in, some on slow chargers, the Kabisa truck and pickup alternated on a single fast charger, while the Kenya Power EV relied on a slower setup due to a malfunctioning system since Meru. The crew settled in for a long day of waiting, watching the day slowly pass by as the batteries filled.
By 7 p.m., all vehicles were finally charged with just enough to reach the next destination, Yabelo, roughly 200 kilometers away, marking our first full night drive in Ethiopia. Paul led the route in the Kabisa pickup, the headlights cutting through the still night as the group experienced Ethiopian roads for the first time. As the Kenyan side, the tarmac in that stretch in Ethiopia was smooth, wide, and relatively quiet, as the night went on, we became the only souls on the road.
A key checkpoint loomed ahead, the Yabelo customs gate, which closed at 8 p.m. With help from the Addis coordination team, the convoy managed to cross just in time, avoiding another border-style delay. The drive continued peacefully toward Yabelo, with a sense of relief and accomplishment growing as the kilometers rolled by.
Late into the night, the convoy arrived at Borana University, where local teams from Ethiopia Electricity Utility had stayed up waiting to facilitate charging. The vehicles were plugged in once again, marking the end of a long but successful transition deeper into Ethiopia.
