Yinson Holdings Berhad (“Yinson”), through its Green Technologies Division (“YGT”), has invested in Oyika Pte Ltd (“Oyika”) – a Singapore start-up that aims to lower the barriers to electric vehicle (“EV”) adoption in Southeast Asia, beginning with a battery swap service bundled with an electric motorbike (“e-motorbike”), made available through affordable subscription plans.
In line with Yinson’s net carbon zero ambitions, the investment aims to accelerate the adoption of EVs in Southeast Asia via Oyika’s affordable, app-based solution and battery swap infrastructure. 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 an Oyika swap station within a minute.
With Yinson’s support, network and experience in logistics and energy solutions, Oyika aims to further develop its technology and strengthen its market position in Southeast Asia. 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, commented that Yinson 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% of vehicle population in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam, the two largest motorbike markets in the region. And less than 0.1% 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 added.
Yinson Group Chief Strategy Officer, Daniel Bong, highlighted that YGT and Oyika share 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 continually bring sustained value to our stakeholders,” he noted.
Oyika Chief Executive Officer, Jinsi Lee, is glad to receive Yinson’s endorsement and to leverage on 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,” said Jinsi.
