KUALA LUMPUR: Yinson Holdings Bhd's green technologies division (YGT) has invested in Oyika Pte Ltd (Oyika) to accelerate electric vehicles (EV) adoption in Southeast Asia via the latter's affordable, app-based solution and battery swap infrastructure.
Oyika, a Singapore-based start-up, aims to lower the barriers to EV adoption in the region with a battery swap service bundled with an electric motorbike (e-motorbike) made available through affordable subscription plans.
Yinson said Oyika works with local e-motorbike manufacturers to adapt their brand-agnostic technology for local use.
Its swappable batteries work with most e-motorbike brands and models in Southeast Asia.
Subscribers to its pay-per-use, prepaid weekly or postpaid monthly plan can swap depleted batteries for fully charged ones at any Oyika swap station within a minute.
Oyika aims to develop its technology further and strengthen its market position in Southeast Asia, backed by Yinson's support, network and experience in logistics and energy solutions,
Oyika's core strength in technology development also presents synergistic opportunities with Yinson's green technologies investment plans in Malaysia.
Yinson group executive vice president (new ventures and technology) Eirik Barclay said the company aims to create a pathway for electric mobility to become an integrated way of life, transitioning the current fossil fuel-reliant system into a clean, sustainable one.
"Southeast Asia is the world's largest motorbike market, with motorbikes constituting up to 85 per cent of vehicle population in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, the two largest motorbike markets in the region.
"And less than 0.1 per cent of them are electric. Each internal combustion engine motorbike on the road replaced by an e-motorbike saves about one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Thus, a significant reduction in carbon emissions can be made through the introduction of such EV solutions," Eirik said in a statement today.
Yinson group chief strategy officer Daniel Bong said YGT and Oyika shared the same goal of bringing about a more environmentally sustainable transport network by working with like-minded partners.
"This investment, together with our recent investment into autonomous driverless solution company MooVita, presents the first step of our roadmap towards building an integrated green logistics solution.
"Yinson is investing into green technologies to help mitigate global climate issues. We believe that being early movers in future-proof technologies, and capitalising on strategic partnerships with the public and private sectors, is an important way to bring sustained value to our stakeholders continually," he added.
Oyika chief executive officer Jinsi Lee said the company is glad to receive Yinson's endorsement and leverage its resources and global network to bring affordable EV solutions to developing countries.
"We look forward to rolling out Oyika's subscription plans for EVs, to not only reduce the cost for riders but, more importantly, contribute towards mitigating climate change," added Jinsi.