Meet Kenya's mechanic who's a queen of hybrid cars

When we drive into Feca Auto Care in Thika on a scorching hot Thursday afternoon, Nyambura Wambui is curiously but skillfully working on a battery. It is a Honda Vezel’s hybrid battery. Draped in a dark blue overall, her face lights up as she stands to regard us. Fondly known as Nyambura the motorist, she enthusiastically talks about what she loves most- cars. But not just any cars. Hybrid cars.

Nyambura’s love for cars started early. Growing up in Kinoo, she didn’t come from a family that owned cars, but that didn’t stop her from being fascinated by them. “I was one of those kids who would routinely go to the road and count cars,” she reminisces with a smile. “I just needed to see the front and not the back and I would already know which car it was.”

Her brother, a mechatronics engineer, shared her passion, and the two bonded over their love for automobiles. But while her brother took a more traditional engineering path, Nyambura’s journey took a different turn. She studied criminology at Murang’a University where she graduated in 2020.

She even worked in forensic analysis for motor accidents and thefts. Yet, her heart was always in cars. “I just loved being around cars,” she says. “I came back to the garage where my brother worked then, as a place to unwind as I thought about the future. It became the future,” she laughs.

Her shift to becoming a full-time automotive technician was driven by a gap she noticed in the market. As hybrid cars began to make their way into Kenya, she realised there was a lack of technical support for the vehicles. “Most mechanics can only handle normal cars,” she explains.

Together with her brother, she took courses and immersed herself in learning about hybrid vehicles. “We noted the market gap, and we realised we could fill it.”

Today, Nyambura is a technician at Feca Auto Care, a garage she co-owns with her brother. Specialising in hybrid and electric vehicles, she has become a go-to expert in a field that is still relatively new in Kenya. “Hybrids are our halfway home to electrics,” she says. “We will get there, but in the meantime, hybrids make sense for us in Kenya, especially with our current infrastructure.”

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, she admits to facing her share of challenges. “Sometimes there are things that are really heavy or tight,” she admits. “There are some nuts that have been torqued proper. Enough strength went to closing that nut. So you realise a man’s build works way, way better than a woman’s.”

But she doesn’t let that stop her. “We still hack it because we have torque wrenches,” she says with a laugh. “But there’s some point where I could be deficient, and I would need help.”

Nyambura has found that being a woman in this field has its advantages. “People are more interested when they see a girl here,” she says. “But the challenge is you have to really know your craft. A customer will dismiss you if you fumble as a girl. You’re held to higher standards.”

Despite the growing popularity of hybrid cars worldwide, Kenyans have been slow to embrace them. Nyambura attributes this to a combination of misinformation and cultural attitudes. “We have a lot of misinformation out here,” she says. “And then there’s a culture we have as Kenyans of… we fear what we don’t know. So we end up speaking badly about it.”

Another issue is the lack of proper support for hybrid vehicles. “Not so many mechanics have embraced the system and have been open to really learning how it works,” Nyambura explains.

There’s also the perception that hybrid cars are more expensive to maintain. “People think, ‘What I’ve been saving on fuel, I’ll use it to buy a battery,’” she poinst out. “But that’s not necessarily true. People have had these cars for seven years without changing the battery. That’s a really long time. If we talk about saving, they have really saved a lot.”

Nyambura also points out that hybrid cars require a different kind of care. “What Kenyans say is a good car is a car that can be misused,” she says with a chuckle.

“Hybrid cars cannot be misused. You have to be a bit more careful. Dust will be constant given our Kenyan roads, and if someone does not know that they are supposed to clean the fan, the battery dies within a short time.”

One of Nyambura’s clients, Mrs Maina, whose car Nyambura was working on when we drove in, drives over two hours to bring her car to Feca Auto Care. “I saw her expertise online,” Mrs Maina says. “She’s also very knowledgeable in what she does.

Mrs Maina’s hybrid car is in pristine condition, and she credits Nyambura for keeping it that way. “I love my car,” she says. “Hybrid makes my life easy and saves me fuel, especially in this economy.” 

But what really impressed Mrs Maina was Nyambura’s thoroughness. “Here they’re not scared to open the car up during service. They’re also very careful to ensure that they bring it back okay. That’s makes me very happy.”

Nyambura’s vision for the future is as bold as her career path.

“The market is so huge.”

She dreams of expanding her workshop and even getting into car assembly. “We want to make cars that are tropicalised,” she says. “At the moment our cars are made for European roads. That’s why we are cleaning the fans. Because our roads are dusty.”

She is also passionate about inspiring other women to join the automotive industry. “As a woman, if you feel that you have the passion and the zeal for it, go for it,” she says. “It’s an interesting world, and anyone can do it. As long as you are committed, passionate, and joyful about what you do, you give it your best. There is so much room for women.”

And for those considering buying a hybrid car, she has a simple piece of advice: “It’s a good car. Make sure you get a clean unit. That’s the cheat code.”

lmbuthia@ke.nationmedia.com