LEAP Fund accelerates e-mobility with 9 global partners in 2024

SAN FRANCISCO – February 29, 2024 – Drive Electric, a global philanthropic-powered campaign to accelerate the transition to a clean transportation future, welcomed the new year with broadened funding for e-mobility in emerging global economics. The LEAP Fund, or Leapfrogging to E-mobility Acceleration Partnership, was launched in 2022 and designed by Drive Electric to support the transition away from fossil fuels and into electric transportation technology, “leapfrogging” over polluting oil-powered transportation and adopting clean vehicle technologies directly. As Drive Electric’s portfolio of funding partners and commitments has expanded, the LEAP Fund has also grown, with an additional $1.4 million in grants in 2024 for nine projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

The 2024 LEAP Fund grantees include:

• Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management (CECIC): Focused on national fuel efficiency policies in Uganda with vehicle pollution regulations and zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) incentives
• Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management: Developing national ZEV sales regulations for Vietnam
• ELICO Foundation: Policy-maker engagement and sharing learning components across the Southern Hemisphere, focused in Tanzania
• Institute for Transportation and Development Policy Brazil: Targeting supply- and demand-side regulations for e-bus implementation across Brazil
• The Electric Mission, specifically the Southern Africa Electric Mobility Coalition: Creating regional industrial development packages including ZEV sales regulations, along with technical assistance in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia
• World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia: Developing an inaugural national framework for a zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle procurement program
• Kenya EV Battery Initiative (KeEBI) of the Africa E-mobility Alliance: Addresses battery end-of-life with a national focus in Kenya and replicability model for the rest of Africa
• Fundación Despacio’s E-transit Zero: Capacity building leadership program focused on workforce training and gender balance in Bogotá, Colombia
• Liberia Energy Access Practitioners (LEAP) Network: A local business network in the capital city of Monrovia, using three-wheeler ZEV pilot data collection to inform policy on ZEV adoption, fuel economy policy, and tax incentives

The LEAP Fund is guided by Drive Electric’s commitment to support emerging economies that want to be leaders in clean energy and decarbonization. Electric vehicle news predominantly focuses on major markets in Europe, China, and the U.S., where transportation energy infrastructure has relied for over a century on the polluting fossil fuels endangering our planet. Along with commitments in these key markets, where decarbonization will be essential to meet global climate targets, Drive Electric recognizes that future economic growth in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia offers an opportunity to leapfrog over the polluting tailpipe. The next few years are crucial in accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles in these areas.

Warren Ondanje, managing director of the Africa E-Mobility Alliance, noted: “Kenya, boasting over 90% renewable electricity on its grid, has the potential to be a regional e-mobility leader. Despite having less than 1% EV adoption, our nation’s mature renewable energy ecosystem and successful integration of light-duty vehicles and public transport set the stage. With LEAP Fund support, we aim to illuminate pathways for stakeholders.” 

Grantees globally praised the LEAP Fund’s fluidity, with many highlighting how the funding and support would expand EV capacities within diverse regional contexts. “As many countries in Africa begin to embrace electric mobility, what remains key is not duplicating efforts, but more regional engagement and alliance to leapfrog markets and supply chains,” noted Hiten Parmar, executive director of the Electric Mission in South Africa. At the Vietnam Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management, Dr. Vu Thanh Tu Anh explained, “We anticipate that the support from the LEAP Fund will contribute to the development of a study on the strategy for ZEV adoption in Vietnam, based on international best practices and an analysis of perspectives from different stakeholders.”

The LEAP Fund is part of Drive Electric’s efforts to ensure that an accelerated transition to clean transportation is truly global. The latest round of LEAP Fund projects showcase the e-mobility vision and leadership already underway around the world. To support the LEAP Fund, the Drive Electric Campaign is working with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors as a fiduciary partner.