SINGAPORE: When Singapore launched trials of battery “swap and charge” stations for electric motorcycles in 2022, the technology was seen as one possible route towards getting cleaner-energy motorcycles on the roads.Two years later, one of the companies involved, Mo Batteries, abandoned plans to launch its battery-swapping service, citing the significant time and investment needed to meet regulatory requirements. The firm has since been deregistered.Electric motorcycles have meanwhile barely made a dent in Singapore, with 433 on the roads as of July, accounting for 0.2 per cent of the motorcycle population. Electric cars, by comparison, have grown to more than 69,000, or over 10 per cent of the car population.Yet Singapore's electric motorcycle companies are not standing still. Several have looked overseas for growth, targeting countries where motorcycles are far more widely used.
Some are now turning their attention back to Singapore with a different approach: motorcycles that plug into existing electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure instead of battery-swapping stations, and corporate fleets to make the economics work before mass-market consumers come onboard.The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told CNA it is "progressively encouraging the electrification of different vehicle segments, including motorcycles", as part of Singapore's push towards 100 per cent cleaner energy vehicles by 2040. It added that electric motorcycle adoption remains "at an early stage" compared with four-wheelers.
