Malaysian firm supplying 200,000 electric motorbikes for Indonesia market

SHAH ALAM, 15 April 2021:

Tree Technologies Sdn Bhd (Treeletrik), a Malaysian home-grown electric vehicles (EV) maker, has signed a partnership to supply 200,000 units of its 100% electric motorbikes to Indonesia.

The three-year deal – inked with distributors PT Pasifik Sakti Enjiniring and the Nahdatul Ulama Board (PBNU) – positions Malaysia as a key EV manufacturer and first regional supplier to export units in the Asean region – which has set an ultimate goal of decreasing the level of final energy consumption in the road transport sector by 2040.

PT Pasifik Sakti Enjiniring – which operates the electric motorbikes brand Molinus (Motor Listrik Nusantara) – will now add Treeletrik’s 100% electric motorbikes to its portfolio.

A joint venture is also in the pipeline between Treeletrik and PT Pasifik Sakti Enjiniring to establish an assembly plant in Indonesia in anticipation of growing demand for the electric motorcycles, said Treeletrik chief executive officer Datuk Viswananthan Menon in a statement.

He described the deal as aiming “to provide a transportation option that is clean, safe, and affordable, with our advanced EV technology. Our 100% electric motorbikes offer customers long-term cost savings and more importantly contribute towards an overall positive impact to the environment.”

Further, he said Treeletrik e-motorbikes offer users long term cost saving benefits, saving users above 50% in daily running and maintenance cost.

The new electric motorbike range, certified in Europe and Malaysia with UNECE WP.29, will feature Treeletrik’s quick swap lithium battery technology. With an average speed of 65-90kph, the e-motorbikes have a travel range of 85-120km.

As a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed Ideanomics, Treeletrik is investing in its assembly, production and marketing facilities – initially in Selangor and later at a new facility in Gebeng in Pahang.

Treeletrik began exporting an estimated 50 electric motorbikes to Thailand and Indonesia in 2020, with an additional 15,000 units due to be exported this year. Other markets Treeletrik is eyeing as potential customers include The Philippines and Cambodia.

Ideanomics acquired a 51% ownership of Treeletrik in March 2019, extending the Malaysian firm’s portfolio from EV mopeds and bikes to EV buses, trucks and cars. The expanded vehicle product line serves the 650 million people in the Asean region – including Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Laos, Singapore and Brunei.

Ideanomics is headquartered in New York, with offices in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Qingdao, and operations in the US, China, Ukraine and Malaysia.