This article was taken from the October 2012 Issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
This car aims to transform rural Africa. The continent's poorest have little or no access to transport services, leaving many cut off from education, healthcare and jobs. To address the problem, British social entrepreneur Joel Jackson, 27, decided to build an affordable off-road vehicle.
Mobius One, the prototype he created with local welders and mechanics, convinced him his idea could succeed. "I saw the transport challenges," says Jackson, who was advising a micro-forestry enterprise in rural Kenya before he founded Nairobi-based Mobius Motors in 2010. "But I also saw a market opportunity for the vehicle. I thought it could be game-changing if we could provide a platform for mobility that would bring out latent entrepreneurialism across Africa."
The next iteration, Mobius Two, builds on Mobius One's no-frills credentials. Rather than find a way to install luxuries such as power steering, the team focused on improving basics such as the robust tubular-steel frame, forgiving suspension and capacity for cargo and passengers. The result is an off-road vehicle that can transport people and goods for long distances on bumpy roads. And it will cost just 600,000 Kenyan shillings (£4,500) -- a similar price to second-hand sedan cars in Kenya. "We want to enable people to innovate," says Jackson. "By doing that, we can unlock huge growth in transport-related services." To that end, Mobius will offer business advice and help customers find financing. This is no charity, though. "We believe what we're doing will create huge social change, but to be sustainable and grow quickly we have to be a for-profit," says Jackson, who grew up in Sheffield before graduating in computer science from Imperial College London.
There is currently just a single Mobius Two -- but production will begin in Kenya later this year. "It's a pretty audacious vision to create a car company in Africa from scratch, but we're confident it will be a viable business."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
