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Jinsi Lee had first entered the renewable vitality sector in 2007 with the ambition of constructing a photo voltaic thin-film manufacturing plant in Singapore.
It wasn’t the very best timing although. At the moment, the photo voltaic module value was at US$4 per watt. Costs had dropped quicker than anticipated (for perspective, it stands at below US$0.30 per watt at present), in order that enterprise didn’t pan out.
He subsequently joined Sunseap, which grew to become Singapore’s largest solar energy producer, to spearhead their abroad operations. Throughout his time within the firm, he helped full Cambodia’s first 10MW photo voltaic farm and a 140MW photo voltaic farm in Rajasthan, India, which was the most important for a Singapore consortium on the time.
Feeling regretful about his first failed enterprise, Jinsi determined to strike out on his personal once more with Oyika in 2018, and even acquired monetary backing from the founders of Sunseap. Thus far, Oyika has acquired US$10 million funding.
Oyika goals to hurry up electrical motorcycle adoption
Jinsi strongly believed that vitality storage, or just batteries, is the “subsequent wave in renewable vitality”.
He famous that photo voltaic and wind are intermittent energy — relying on the time of day and climate situations — so that they require storage for that vitality for use at different instances of the day, not like conventional energy vegetation that generate electrical energy with coal or pure fuel on demand.
Nonetheless, vitality storage remains to be too costly for wide-scale adoption as a part of an vitality grid. The economics for battery-powered automobiles is extra palatable and may occur sooner.
The smaller and lighter the automobile, the higher the economics for electrical automobiles (EVs), subsequently the deal with powering motorbikes. Southeast Asia (SEA) occurs to have the best focus of motorbikes on the earth.
– Jinsi Lee, founder and CEO of Oyika
It’s additionally fascinating to notice that Oyika could also be a Singapore startup, nevertheless it at the moment solely has presence in Indonesia and Cambodia. Motorbikes represent 85 per cent of the automobile inhabitants in these two nations. In distinction, Singapore has a small motorcycle inhabitants of solely 140,000.
Out of your entire area, Indonesia owns the most important market share for motorbikes with a complete of 250 million motorbikes, and it’s additionally the third-largest on the earth after India and China.
Jinsi shared that he additionally selected to enter Cambodia as a result of he was concerned in his first photo voltaic farm undertaking there, and felt that it will be an excellent first place exterior of Singapore to trial their battery swap services and products.
With its Battery-as-a-Service (BaasS) providing, Oyika helps to unravel three main ache factors for electrical motorcycle adoptions: vary nervousness, lengthy charging instances, and the upfront buy price of EV batteries.
How Oyika’s EV battery swapping service works
BaaS is mainly a leased battery that comes with battery swaps. A rider can swap his depleted battery for a totally charged one at a close-by “swap station” positioned at a comfort retailer or petrol kiosk, defined Jinsi.
The swapping course of takes lower than a minute, and it no completely different from topping up petrol at a kiosk when operating out of gasoline. Their batteries are additionally suitable with most current mass-market electrical motorbikes in SEA.
We take away the upfront buy price of the battery from an electrical motorcycle. The battery may be half the general price of the bike, making EV adoption a extra inexpensive and compelling proposition.
Moreover, batteries bought with electrical motorbikes degrade over time, requiring riders to periodically substitute them all through their bikes’ lifespan. With battery swapping, riders needn’t fear about battery alternative and upgrades.
– Jinsi Lee, founder and CEO of Oyika
Oyika presents packages comparable to pay-per-use (US$0.05 a minute), pay as you go weekly (US$18 per week) and month-to-month (US$72 a month) subscription plans, the place battery swaps are bundled with an electrical motorcycle. It is a comparable idea to telco subscription plans that bundle knowledge and calls with cell phones.
A single swap prices US$1, which takes an electrical motorcycle about 50km in vary. An electrical motorcycle could carry as much as two batteries, or carry one and swap extra recurrently.
Most single journeys are lower than 15km, with day by day journeys below 30km. For a 100km vary on an electrical motorcycle, it prices US$2 for swaps.
“A gasoline bike requires about three litres of petrol to journey 100km. Assuming pump value of US$1.50 per litre (it prices extra in Singapore), that’s US$4.50 for 100km of vary on a gasoline bike,” calculates Jinsi.
He additional shared that after they first launched their month-to-month subscription plan in Cambodia within the second half of 2019, it “didn’t fly” despite the fact that it was cheaper than gasoline motorbikes.
He reasoned that there was a variety of “apprehension about electrical motorbikes” then and in spite of everything, individuals have been already snug with gasoline motorbikes.
The next 12 months in Might 2020, Oyika went forward to launch a pay-as-you-go ride-share programme regardless of them not having the ability to step foot into Cambodia as a consequence of Covid-19.
“The purpose was to make it easier and cheaper for the general public to be uncovered to electrical motorbikes,” stated Jinsi.
Oyika even managed to safe grant assist from the United Nations Growth Programme (UNDP), and in addition to formal approval from the Phnom Penh Metropolis Administration (PPCA) in October 2021 to be part of the town’s public bus programme.
Below this programme, the startup deployed ride-share bikes at 11 public bus stops to bridge the first- and last-mile hole and enhance ridership of the buses.
Covid-19 challenges
In response to Jinsi, their greatest enterprise problem is working in an setting the place gasoline bikes are already “well-established and entrenched”.
Moreover, they’re selling electrical motorbikes — together with their batteries and swap infrastructure — in markets that not solely haven’t any subsidy, but in addition lack of financing for EVs. Notably in Indonesia, Oyika additionally competes in opposition to subsidised petrol that prices one-fifth the value of Singapore.
Regardless of the challenges, Oyika has managed to earn the assist of main electrical motorcycle producers to pair their bikes with Oyika batteries.
It took some time, however we finally received the buy-in of Indonesia’s nationwide e-motorbike model Gesits to launch a motorbike model with our swappable batteries.
– Jinsi Lee, founder and CEO of Oyika
In mid-2021, Oyika additionally labored with worldwide manufacturers Yadea and Tailing, that are the world’s first and third best-selling e-motorbike manufacturers respectively.
Each firms built-in what would be the first of a number of fashions with Oyika’s battery swap system for his or her foray into SEA, and the bikes are at the moment being homologated (licensed for highway use) in Indonesia.
Nonetheless, Covid-19 has led to a complete new set of challenges, comparable to inflicting important disruptions to their enlargement plans.
“We encountered months of lockdowns in Indonesia, provide chain disruptions inflicting supply delays of our batteries, swap stations and electrical motorbikes. Regardless of all of the challenges, we (have) made good progress (and) established a powerful community of companions, each domestically and internationally,” stated Jinsi.
The pandemic has additionally delayed its fundraising plans, through which it focused to boost US$100 million to roll out 30,000 energy subscription plans with electrical motorcycle bundles throughout Indonesia.
Regardless, Oyika managed to safe Inexperienced Bond Certification for its operations in Indonesia with the assist of the Asian Growth Financial institution, which permits them to boost Inexperienced Bond for his or her enlargement there.
“This additionally implies that motorbikes powered by Oyika batteries are eligible for inexperienced finance. It is a milestone for us and a strong assertion. It may be so as a result of we will monitor our batteries from their inception to their second life use in vitality storage methods (ESS) and last decommissioning, the place they’re despatched for recycling,” he added.
Oyika helps to construct EV charging stations in S’pore
Singapore has been very vocal about its plans to part out Inside Combustion Engine (ICE) automobiles by 2040.
As a part of this ambition, it’s ramping up efforts to construct 60,000 EV charging stations in Singapore by 2030, up from the preliminary goal of 28,000.
Oyika is definitely one among two consortiums which have been awarded by the City Redevelopment Authority (URA) to put in 600 charging stations in public car parks.
Jinsi expressed that Singapore has the power to be SEA’s EV capital for SEA by main in EV adoption.
“Norway has about the identical inhabitants dimension as Singapore, they usually have proven the best way ahead for the electrification of non-public transport,” he stated.
“In Norway, an oil-producing nation — the place the fossil gasoline sector contributes 14 per cent of the nation’s GDP and authorities income — EVs are capable of contribute greater than 80 per cent of latest automotive gross sales.”
He added that whereas Singapore has solely 140,000 motorbikes in Singapore, there are 100,000 Malaysian motorbikes registered for auto-clearance to cross into Singapore. Half that quantity enter Singapore day by day.
Oyika wishes to incentivise these bikes coming into Singapore to be electrical, (however) it requires coordination on each side of the causeway. That’s no imply feat. If that may be achieved, think about a a lot quieter and pollution-free causeway, and the well-being of those that journey to and from Johor and Singapore day by day.
It is going to be cheaper for the riders too, no matter whether or not they conduct their battery swaps in Singapore or Malaysia.
– Jinsi Lee, founder and CEO of Oyika
Finally, Oyika goals to decrease the obstacles to EV adoption in SEA through the bundling of EV charging with EVs on a month-to-month subscription plan, beginning out with electrical motorbikes.
Shifting ahead, it hopes to develop its footprint in Africa in addition to develop the usage of its batteries to energy off-grid properties. It famous that there are at the moment 30 million individuals in SEA and 600 million in Africa who lack entry to electrical energy.
The truth is, it’s already conducting trials to show that its moveable batteries — that are charged at a swap station powered by photo voltaic at a centralised location — may also help energy properties.
“(It) is a less complicated, cheaper and extra scalable different to particular person photo voltaic dwelling methods and micro-grids,” he summed up.
Featured Picture Credit score: Oyika
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