Singapore’s start-up firm Oyika, which integrates electric scooters with battery swap services, has secured investment commitment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund-baked Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF) to expand into Indonesia.
“The SEACEF investment is the first to fund electric mobility as a service in Indonesia and is the first for SEACEF in the electric mobility sector. It will support Oyika’s growth in the country, where it has a current first-mover advantage with a unique business model that provides Indonesians with affordable options to transition from traditional petrol motorbikes to electric motorbikes at no upfront cost,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
SEACEF estimates there are 138 million two-wheelers in Indonesia that emit nitrous oxide (NOx) as well as CO2.
1000 charging stations planned
“We calculate that if just half of Indonesia’s more than 130 million petrol motorcycles were to convert to electric power, savings of NOx emissions alone – which are 30x more harmful than CO2 – would be the equivalent of closing three coal-fired power plants – or adding more than 15,000 MW [mega watt] of solar capacity,” said Mason Wallick, chief executive of Clime Capital that manages SEACEF’s fund.
Oyika plans to build 1,000 battery swaps and charging stations in Indonesia this year and offer a subscription model similar to that of mobile phones, allowing zero upfront cost options for customers. Starting from as low as $59 a month, customers can bring home a new electric two-wheeler and free battery charging for two years.
Customers buying cash will also receive a free battery charging service for two years, making its cost of ownership 40% cheaper compared with 100-cc petrol motorcycle, Oyika said on its website.
“By offering battery swaps bundled with an electric motorbike via a power subscription plan, much like a telco plan bundling data and calls with a mobile phone, we lower the barriers to EV adoption in Indonesia and Southeast Asia,” said Oyika chief executive Jinsi Lee.
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