Science & Technology

How to Make Transportation Quieter, Cleaner and Cheaper | Doreen Orishaba | TED

When Doreen Orishaba helped build Africa’s first electric car in 2011, skeptics dismissed it as a “toy for the Western world.” Now she’s running dozens of electric buses across Kenya and Rwanda, moving thousands of passengers to work every day on zero-exhaust vehicles powered by near-silent engines. She breaks down what it actually takes to…

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When Doreen Orishaba helped build Africa’s first electric car in 2011, skeptics dismissed it as a “toy for the Western world.” Now she’s running dozens of electric buses across Kenya and Rwanda, moving thousands of passengers to work every day on zero-exhaust vehicles powered by near-silent engines. She breaks down what it actually takes to scale clean transport — and why skipping the gas station pit stop is closer than you may think. (Recorded at TED Countdown Summit 2025 on June 18, 2025)

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13 Comments

  1. @Kibingwa

    May 4, 2026 at 11:09 am

    very Informative

  2. @alexisdespland4939

    May 4, 2026 at 11:15 am

    dose qutier transit mean more people run over by buses that they didn’t hear coming and might not even expect there if they are being rerouted for some reason. i am all for electrtic transit.

  3. @hippocreation

    May 4, 2026 at 11:21 am

    Made in Africa powered by China.😂

  4. @Bughotwheels

    May 4, 2026 at 11:56 am

    Awesome congrats

  5. @antonhartlieb5331

    May 4, 2026 at 1:23 pm

    I hope more countries will join with using cleaner busses

  6. @okiedatadude

    May 4, 2026 at 1:25 pm

    Why did the electric car die a hundred years ago?……why did GM kill it decades ago?

    • @CharlesGregory

      May 6, 2026 at 4:28 am

      GM only killed theirs. Plenty of other electric cars out there.

  7. @KDMtry

    May 4, 2026 at 1:56 pm

    Ur speech would b even better if u stop saying, “if im being honest…” because what r u being all the other moments u don’t say that? Lying, dishonest? I don’t think so, but every time u start with offering that ur being honest, the unintended occurrence is that everything else u say without that preface is dishonest.

  8. @goddevil1795

    May 4, 2026 at 2:26 pm

  9. @cooldud11122

    May 4, 2026 at 2:45 pm

    EV’s cause more pollution and has a higher environmental impact than ICE vehicles. Internal Combustion Engine fyi

    • @CharlesGregory

      May 6, 2026 at 4:29 am

      No, they don’t, it doesn’t become true just because you hear fossil fuel propagandists say it.

  10. @urbanstrencan

    May 4, 2026 at 3:44 pm

    Really great to see this kind of investment in Africa, great talk and hope to see sustainable transportation spread across the continent, making it less dependable on BIG oil

  11. @IndigenousEarthling101

    May 5, 2026 at 2:17 pm

    Africa and the rest of the world are entering a new phase of electric vehicle adoption. The existing phase was primarily driven by environmental concerns, superior electric vehicle driving performance, and virtue/status signaling of customers willing and able to pay a premium for an electric vehicle. This new phase is driven primarily by economic, safety, and practical concerns as electric vehicle total costs of ownership and purchase prices fall below those of comparable internal combustion engine vehicles, and as new battery chemistries such as LFP and sodium ion become ever cheaper, longer lasting, and exceedingly safe.

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