Vietnam’s green push sparks e-bike race

Vietnam is witnessing a fierce race among producers of electric bikes and e-scooters as the country gears up to go green and meet its 2050 carbon neutrality target.

One of the outcomes of the green push is efforts by delivery service providers to partner with electric vehicle (EV) makers.

E-scooters gained the limelight recently when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, paying a two-day (July 20-21) working visit to Vietnam, visited a Hanoi factory where Selex Motors, a five-year-old Vietnamese startup, makes e-scooters and batteries.

Climate change poses an existential threat to the world but also provides a “key economic opportunity” and way to build “greater resilience into our economies.

“The United States is also taking action now in countries to partner and support clean energy transitions in other nations. This includes Vietnam,” she added.

Selex is selling its e-scooters to Lazada, DHL, Baemin and other delivery businesses. The startup is looking to expand sales to other consumers and is touting its patented battery technology as compatible with 70% of e-scooters in the market.

Selex has raised $3 million this April in a convertible note round from the Asian Development Bank’s venture capital arm ADB Ventures and other investors. It said the funds go towards reducing carbon emissions in high-usage applications such as last-mile cargo and passenger transport in Vietnam.

The same month saw Selex embark on a partnership with South Korea-invested Baemin, a competitor of rideshare firm Gojek. Baemin shippers will use Selex Camel two-wheelers for the firm’s delivery services. Baemin said it expected the partnership to help drivers optimize operational costs, thanks to quick battery changes and smoke-free, noise-free services.

Selex’s rivals seeking to electrify Vietnam’s two-wheeler market of more than 70 million motorbikes include Dat Bike and VinFast. The latter, part of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, makes electric cars, electric buses, e-scooters and e-bikes while another subsidiary, VinES JSC, makes batteries and provides clean energy solutions, including battery energy storage systems (BESS).

This March, GSM (Green-Smart-Mobility) JSC, the electric car and motorbike rental and taxi service arm under Vingroup, partnered with rideshare service provider Be Group. GSM said it would invest in Be Group and help the latter grow into a multi-service platform, support its drivers to switch to electric vehicles conveniently, and improve service quality.

VinFast unveiled its first e-bike models July 22 at the 8Wonder music festival on July 22 hosted by the Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang on Tre Island in the beach town of Nha Trang. The music show featured American Charlie Puth, a multi-platinum singer, songwriter and producer of U.S. contemporary pop music.

VinFast plans to commercialize its young-generation e-bikes later this year. The company had premiered the models this January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It said that the four “concept vehicles” aimed to match diverse riding scenarios.

Two of the bikes featured mid-drive motors. The third was a hybrid-style commuter bike with a centrally-located mid-drive motor and the fourth was an electric mountain bike.

Market observers say that VinFast can expect fierce competition from Hong Kong-based Yadea Technology Group, which signed a memorandum of understanding this January to build a $100-million electric motorbike manufacturing plant in Bac Giang province near Hanoi.

The 23.2-hectare plant in Tan Hung Industrial Park will have an annual capacity of two million motorbikes and employ 3,500 people. The Hong Kong firm will also set up an electric motorbike research center at the IP.

Yadea became a top brand in Vietnam within a year of debut, which was November 2019.

Vietnamese emerging e-scooter maker Dat Bike is also a strong competitor in the decarbonization race. It launched a partnership with Gojek this March wherein the Indonesia-headquartered ride-hailing platform will use Dat Bike’s e-scooters in expanding its fleet. The two sides have deployed Dat Bike’s Weaver ++ models in Ho Chi Minh City.