The Market for Electric Two-wheelers in Southeast Asia And South Asia Is "exploding".

Affected by multiple factors such as the blockage of the transportation channel through the Strait of Hormuz, global oil prices remain at a high level. As the core consumer market for two-wheel vehicles globally, the situation of tight fuel supply and high prices is particularly prominent in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

The electric vehicle market for two-wheelers in Southeast Asia and South Asia has "exploded"

Since March this year, the retail prices of fuel in Southeast Asia and South Asia have repeatedly reached record highs. In countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, hundreds of millions of motorcycle users are facing the predicament of "unable to afford fuel" or "unable to get fuel", and the cost of people's travel has soared significantly.

It is worth noting that in countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, the sales of electric motorcycles saw an explosive growth in March. This round of energy crisis is accelerating the transformation of people's travel methods in these regions from using gasoline to using electricity.

According to a report by Japan's Fuji Television, sales of electric motorcycles in the urban area of Bangkok, Thailand have been increasing since March. In some remote areas, the sales growth rate of some stores has even reached 20 times. Currently, there is a shortage of electric motorcycles in the country, and dealers are competing to purchase the factory inventories and are calling for an acceleration in capacity improvement. In Vietnam, some electric motorcycle stores saw an increase in orders for Yadi products by more than 10 times in early March, and some regions experienced stockouts.

Meanwhile, the export of electric motorcycles in China has seen a significant increase. In March alone, in the Jiangmen area, the value of electric bicycles, electric motorcycles and related components exported by the relevant enterprises reached over 25 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 times.

According to a report by the Singapore-based venture capital firm East Ventures, the market size for electric motorcycle replacements in Southeast Asia is as high as 15 billion US dollars. The compound annual growth rate of the Southeast Asian market is expected to exceed 50% in the coming years.

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Two-wheelers in Southeast Asia and South Asia are entering a period of rapid growth in the transition from fuel-powered to electric-powered vehicles.

According to the data, Southeast Asia has four major motorcycle markets: Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with a total ownership of over 200 million motorcycles. In South Asia, countries such as India also have a high motorcycle ownership rate, but the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the region is generally low, and there is huge potential for market development.

In terms of policies, the implementation of oil restrictions in some countries or regions is drawing closer, or they have already launched comprehensive electrification plans.

The capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, plans to gradually stop selling fuel-powered motorcycles starting from July 2026. Ho Chi Minh City intends to replace 400,000 fuel motorcycles with electric motorcycles by 2028.

Indonesia plans to complete the electrification transformation of 120 million motorcycles within three to four years. The government will provide financial subsidies to the owners of the modified motorcycles and gradually establish an industrial pattern dominated by electric products for local sales.

Cambodia is also planning to electrify its motorcycles, as one of the important ways to reduce its oil imports.

Currently, driven by high oil prices and the demand for energy security, coupled with the support from policies and subsidies of multiple countries, the "oil-to-electricity" transformation of two-wheelers in the Southeast Asian and South Asian markets is expected to progress from the initial outbreak stage to an accelerated penetration stage.

In this context, since the beginning of this year, products such as electric motorcycles and bicycles in China have been widely favored in the aforementioned markets. This has also provided new market opportunities for Chinese manufacturers of electric motorcycles and bicycles as well as battery enterprises.

Facing the two waves of two-wheeler electrification in Southeast Asia and South Asia, Chinese industrial enterprises are accelerating their overseas expansion.

In terms of the entire manufacturing industry, enterprises such as Yadi, Ai Ma, and Chunfeng Power have already achieved the implementation of electric two-wheeler production capacity and channel layout in core markets in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand, and have established an expansion system for the regional market.

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Chinese battery manufacturers are accelerating their expansion into the markets of Southeast Asia and South Asia.

In the battery sector, Chinese battery enterprises such as Yiliu Lithium Energy, Xinlian An, Huayu Battery, Xinghan Power Supply, Fone Power Technology, and Chao Wei have established a multi-level strategic layout matrix through measures like capacity expansion, technology adaptation, and ecosystem collaboration, in order to seize the market opportunity.

In terms of localizing production capacity, currently, several battery enterprises have established production bases in the aforementioned regions to achieve local production and supply.

The first phase of Yiliu Lithium Energy's factory in Malaysia is expected to reach full production in early 2025, with an annual output of 680 million cylindrical batteries. These batteries will mainly supply the electric tools and electric two-wheel vehicle markets, reaching customers in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Additionally, the second phase of the project will expand the storage battery project, further improving the regional production capacity layout.

Xingheng Power has established a PACK factory in Indonesia, enabling local supply.

In Southeast Asia, AMD has successfully introduced its battery products into the motorcycle markets of Vietnam and Thailand through its local distributor network. In recent years, its sales have continued to increase.

In terms of products, in response to the complex usage scenarios in Southeast Asia and South Asia, several battery manufacturers have developed highly adaptable products specifically to create comprehensive solutions for electric motorcycles and electric bicycles.

According to the data, the electric motorcycle battery products of Fone Power Technology have a peak discharge rate of up to 9C, and the fastest acceleration within 100 kilometers is 3.3 seconds, with the maximum speed reaching 198 kilometers per hour.

Xingheng Power has launched a new series of lithium batteries for electric motorcycles. They have proposed the "3-degree battery+" solution, which utilizes 50Ah or larger capacity battery cells to achieve a battery capacity of over 3 degrees, thus meeting the "double 100" requirements of 100 kilometers of acceleration and 100 kilometers of range. They have also introduced the "light storage charging and swapping" model. This solution has dual value in areas with unstable power supply and can meet the actual needs of people in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

New Energy An builds upon the core technologies of CATL and ENA, and has focused on the two-wheel vehicle market. It has launched the "Kun Yuan" battery specifically designed for electric motorcycles, which can be widely applied to various scenarios such as commuting, freight transportation, and competitions. It also collaborates with Zhang Xue Motorcycle to develop battery products for racing electric motorcycles.

As a subsidiary of Yadi, Huayu Battery has covered two major fields: lead-acid batteries and sodium-ion batteries. In March this year, it launched the "Qixin S Sodium Battery", which can achieve the interchangeability of lead, sodium and lithium. Combined with its integrated photovoltaic, storage and charging system, it can solve the charging problems in remote areas.

It is worth noting that the market characteristics of high temperature, high humidity and high frequency, heavy load in Southeast Asia and South Asia, combined with the policy-driven demand for upgrading millions of existing "petrol vehicles" to electric ones, are driving the core demands for electric motorcycle batteries, such as tropical adaptability, safety and durability, priority for battery swapping, and controllable cost.

For Chinese battery manufacturers, they need to go beyond domestic standards and lay a solid foundation for their products through technologies such as wide temperature range thermal management, high-grade protection, high safety ternary/lithium iron phosphate/sodium ion technologies; at the same time, they should also actively respond to the trend of combining battery swapping and fast charging, and promote modular, standardized and localized production layouts, in order to seize the blue ocean market of two-wheeler electrification in the local area through technology adaptation + ecosystem共建 + local compliance.

Overall, the electricization of two-wheelers in Southeast Asia and South Asia has entered its initial explosive stage. Chinese battery enterprises, leveraging their complete industrial chains, mature technologies, and rapid response capabilities, have gained the lead. However, they also face multiple challenges such as regional policy differences, weak infrastructure, and competition from Japanese and Korean enterprises. As geopolitical conflicts continue to influence the global energy landscape, the electricization process in Southeast Asia and South Asia will accelerate further. Chinese battery enterprises are expected to further leverage their industrial chain advantages, iterate technologies, and optimize costs, becoming the core drivers of regional green transformation.