E-motorbikes can give gasoline peers a run for their money: Vietnamese entrepreneur

You have a doctorate from the University of Michigan, one of the top universities in the U.S., and have worked for major domestic and foreign corporations. How did all this lead to starting your own business making electric motorcycles? What or who was the inspiration?

I decided to start my own business because I wanted to contribute to the nation’s development. There are two reasons for choosing electric motorbikes. Firstly, I wanted to focus on environmental protection as well as sustainable development. Secondly, I saw electric motorbikes as an opportunity with the whole society on the verge of transitioning to electric vehicles - a fundamental shift in transportation as well as many other areas of life. I can say that this is a once-in-a-century chance and also an opportunity to develop a new field that we do not lag behind the rest of the world.

Vietnam has many opportunities for development, but we have not fully tapped our potentials and advantages, just “taking a scamper through Dickens”. To make Vietnam a dragon or a tiger that can compete with the powers in five continents, it is necessary to have companies with deep technological development. South Korea has Samsung and LG…so I ask why our country doesn't have such companies?

So, I decided to take this once-in-a-century chance to fulfil my personal ambition and desires, and started Selex Motors.

The person who has inspired me the most is the founder of Hyundai, Chung Ju-yung, who only finished elementary school but used his vision, great will and heart for his country to become very successful.

There is an indomitable will inside him. For him, nothing is impossible. Actually, I came to know of Chung Ju-yung's story after founding Selex Motors. When I read about him, I saw a lot of similarities and empathy. Despite the huge gap in time and geography, I feel a connection between his story and Selex's initial journey.

What’s the ambition with Selex Motors?

Selex's ambition is to become the number one EV maker in Southeast Asia, providing all kinds of electric vehicles. We also aim at smart and sustainable transportation, so besides smart vehicles, Selex also plans to provide new, useful and intelligent services to users.

There are many e-motorbike brands in Vietnam. What sets Selex Motors apart? And what is your target demographic?

Yes, there are different companies and brands of electric motorcycles in the market, but Selex is the first to approach this field comprehensively, completely solving the problem of converting from gasoline motorbikes to electric ones.

Take the problem recharging, first. The convenience of a gasoline vehicle is that when it runs out of petrol, we can fill it in just 5-10 minutes and use it for a few days. With electric vehicles, when we started our business, all brands in the market required 3-8 hours to fully charge the battery, making it very difficult to popularize this means of transport.

Selex has thoroughly dealt that problem with its battery replacement solution. Instead of charging the battery for many hours, users can exchange their exhausted battery for a full battery at Selex's battery exchange stations. This only takes about 2 minutes. Currently, we have more than 60 battery exchange stations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and are building more.

Another strength is the price. For the same quality, electric motorbikes are usually priced slightly higher than those that run on petrol, mainly due to the battery, which can account for more than 50% of the cost. So we separate the battery cost. For other makers, the battery cost is a fixed cost that must be paid right at the time of purchase, but we make it a variable cost, like it is for gasoline vehicles. In our business model, customers pay according to the distance they travel, and this cost is about 25-40% cheaper than gasoline motorbikes.

Even with this solution, the electric motorbike is just about equal to the gasoline-fuelled one. To compete, we must have a new value that gasoline vehicles do not have. That value must come from a new technology and a new ecosystem. We want to redefine the electric motorbike, not only as a means of transport, but also as a smart vehicle that delivers greater more value. So Selex's electric motorbikes are integrated with many new features including using your phone to control the vehicle, check the vehicle's status and seek the nearest battery change station.

Another point is that Selex Motors is a pioneer in the field of electric motorcycles for transportation. With optimal design, this product line is aimed at customers who are transport service providers, like shippers, tech-based motorbike taxi drivers, etc.

Many people say that electric motorcycles in the market today are not really superior to gasoline-fuelled ones. What would you tell them?

The view that electric vehicles cannot compete with gasoline counterparts is both true and false. It is true because most electric vehicles available on the market today are not competitive in terms of quality, convenience, price and design.

However, electric vehicles also have outstanding points, such as increasing driving experience, saving operating costs and many new technologies and smart features driven by software that gasoline vehicles do not have.

Specifically, among electric motorcycle brands, Selex Motors products can completely compete with gasoline-powered motorbikes. Currently, we are focusing on electric vehicles for transportation, but in the near future, we will launch more user-friendly models, helping users completely change their perception about electric motorcycles.

About operating costs, electric motorbikes, especially those of Selex, are definitely superior to gasoline bikes. For gasoline motorbikes, the cost per kilometer (including petrol and oil prices) is about VND500 (2.1 U.S. cents). For Selex vehicles, the battery service only costs VND200-300 (1.3 U.S. cents) per kilometer. In addition, the costs for warranty, maintenance, repair and replacement of spare parts and components are also about 50% cheaper, because the electric engine is simpler than the petrol one.

Now, e-motorbike makers typically ask customers to buy batteries and this makes their products more expensive than the gasoline-fuelled one. But, for the Selex models, customers do not need to buy batteries.

What are some challenges that the company is facing in developing electric motorcycles?

Besides the technical challenges, the biggest challenge in the coming time is financial resources to develop quickly and on a large scale. It’s not just electric vehicle production that Selex aims at, but also building a battery exchange network and energy infrastructure. This is the main problem, requiring investment and time for large-scale development. However, even when the network of battery exchange stations is expanded, whether it is optimized or not depends on how well the government implements the master plan for shared energy infrastructure.

Another problem is personnel. Electric motorcycles and electric vehicles in general are a new field and there are not many Vietnamese workers in it. So the challenge is to build a highly qualified workforce quickly and expand it apace.

The support policies of the government are also important. As of now, there is not enough specific policy support to encourage and promote the development of electric vehicles. We can learn from the experience of Thailand or Indonesia. In these countries, when people buy an electric motorbike, the government will provide support worth $400-500 per vehicle in the form of taxes, number plate registration fee, etc.

As the price of an electric motorbike is higher, state support is needed to help them compete with gasoline-fuelled motorbikes, price-wise. The government should also issue policies to protect domestic enterprises. Indonesia and Thailand have very strong measures to promote and protect the development of domestic enterprises, such as requiring foreign businesses who want to invest in this field to partner with domestic manufacturers or transfer technology.

With a potential market like Vietnam, foreign EV makers can dominate the market very quickly, making it very difficult for us to compete with them. Most recently, India has refused proposals by some Chinese companies to build factories in the country, because it wants to protect the domestic industry.

Can you explain more clearly the importance and impact of the government's energy infrastructure planning on developing your battery exchange model?

Developing clean energy and improving electricity infrastructure has to happen in parallel with electric vehicle development. If all means of transport are connected to the grid, it will certainly be a huge challenge to ensure stable supplies.

Renewable energy is not only an effective solution to EV development but also a new energy source that can address the electricity shortage that we are facing. Therefore, I think that clean energy development needs to be promoted and its infrastructure developed to meet the operational needs of EVs.

In general, besides the financial issue, the grid and power source are the biggest obstacles to the development of electric vehicles. This problem can only be solved by the government. If not, many electric vehicles will not be used because we will not have enough electricity, the power price will be too expensive, or the grid will break down.

In such situations, the EV development story will become meaningless and the bottleneck will become insurmountable. Solving this problem could take 5 to 10 years, so we must urgently build plans on power infrastructure and power sources that can gradually meet the demand of all EVs in the country.