Asian ride-hailing companies expanding from ‘only shared’ to ‘personal’ with electric mobility, says GlobalData

With the fight against climate change intensifying the electrification race in Asia and the electric vehicle (EV) industry witnessing major transitions, new technology companies and shared mobility players have been entering the market in recent times. Some of the leading shared mobility Asian players are now expanding their business from ‘only shared’ to ‘personal’ mobility services by manufacturing EVs and developing a complete EV ecosystem, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Lately, Southeast Asian shared mobility decacorn Gojek, a decade-old ride-hailing company that turned into a ‘Super App’ with a wide range of service offerings formed a joint venture – Electrum – with PT TBS Energi Utama, an Indonesian clean energy company, to manufacture electric two-wheelers, battery packaging and battery-swapping infrastructure. This marks Gojek’s entry as an EV maker.

Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Shared mobility players have an early existence in the EV transition. Many global players such as Uber, DiDi, Ola, Grab, Gojek etc. are pioneers in committing to the electrification of their fleets.”

Earlier, Gojek also made a partnership with Gogoro to pilot a battery-swapping scheme for 500 e-scooters in Indonesia. The company also has EV related partnerships with companies including Gestis, Viar, NIU Technologies, Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi.

Agwan continues: “The development will support Gojek’s ambition to make its vehicle fleet fully electric by 2030. Gojek’s entry into EV manufacturing follows the lead of Indian ride-hailing giant Ola and shared scooter start-up Bounce.”

Ola ventured into EV manufacturing with the acquisition of Amsterdam’s Etergo. It’s ‘Future Factory’ aims production of 10 million units annually. Bounce acquired Indian EV start-up 22 Motors and has plans to invest US$100m in the market, the company recently launched its e-scooter ‘Infinity’.

Agwan concludes: “This showcases a major strategic shift by shared mobility players, amid the COVID-19 hit shared economy and existing near-term uncertainty.

“While the developed economies are leading the EV transition in the four-wheeler segment, the developing Asia-Pacific (APAC) nations hold significant potential for electric two-wheelers given the major modal share and higher propensity due to affordability. Two-wheeler transition will combat the congestion issues and pollution of the Asian countries and hence, it possesses significant regulatory appeal.

“All the above factors coupled with shared mobility players’ capabilities to manage large fleets and pick/drop stations makes them able to maintain swap stations and charging infrastructure and create a conducive local EV ecosystem. Consequently, the industry has been witnessing increased M&A activities in the segment and shared companies are also striving to secure their slice of the region’s future EV market.”

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