Earlier-than-expected debut for ecLiMo

Written by The Edge Financial Daily Tuesday, 18 May 2010 00:23

PETALING JAYA: Electric motorcycles and scooters will hit the road sooner than expected following the appointment of Naza Bikes Sdn Bhd by EcLiMo Sdn Bhd to assemble the country’s first e-scooter under the brand name of ecLiMo Penan.

On May 17, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for Naza Bikes to assemble the ecLiMo model at its Shah Alam plant. The plant has an annual production capacity of 40,000 ecLiMo (Eco Lithium Mobility) units.

The e-scooter is powered by an electric motor and rechargeable lithium battery, which are produced in Penang and Kulim respectively, while a well-known Japanese motorcycle company develops the frame.

Its performance will be similar to a 125cc petrol-powered motorcycle and ecLiMo has a top speed of 110kph with a range of 100km on a single charge that will be more than adequate for most riders going to work and back. It only costs 87 sen to charge the batteries for a distance of 100km, compared with RM6 worth of petrol for a combustion-engined motorcycle travelling the same distance. The battery of low voltage of around 60V takes only three hours to be recharged in the house.

Next month, parliament is expected to table the amendments to the transport regulations to allow the use of electric motorcycles on the road. When this takes place, ecLiMo will be the first electric motorcycle to be introduced in Malaysia with the e-scooter targeted for launch at end-September or early final quarter of the year.

Veteran automotive expert Datuk Dr Davy Woo, who was with the national car Proton during its inception in 1985, is behind ecLiMo. With Woo in the picture, ecLiMo will have in place a full export programme, expertise and international markets to sell the electric two-wheelers.

Some of the first batch of the assembled ecLiMo Penan units will be for the export market, pending their launch in Malaysia. The ecLiMo is targeted for launch in Japan first by July before being introduced in the Malaysian market.

It was reported that the manufacturer planned to roll out two scooters and one motorcycle model under the ecLiMo brand over the next few months. Since news of the ecLiMo electric motorcycle was reported, there has been tremendous response with the company receiving several thousand enquiries from the public seeking more information about the e-scooter.

The ecLiMo Penan is expected to cost about RM6,000 a unit but the company is offering the first 10,000 units at around RM3,000 each.

Unlike the fuel-powered motorcycles that are costlier to maintain because of the need to replace parts like air filters and spark plugs, ecLiMo bikes have almost zero maintenance cost except to be sent to appointed maintenance centres for routine checking. The ecLiMo scooter has undergone numerous tests, including travelling a gradient of 22 degrees with two persons on the bike.

Compared with China-made electric motorcycles and other foreign models, ecLiMo’s performance is said to be far better in terms of speed, range of travel on a single charge, charging time, lighter battery weight and longer battery life of some 60,000km compared with the 9,000km of the foreign models.

The manufacturer aims to make the ecLiMo motorcyles much cheaper once it has reached a certain volume of sales.

Although the cost of producing the rechargeable batteries is high initially, the company will only be leasing them to the motorcycle buyers. Plans are underway to set up a chain of e-Battery exchange shops for ecLiMo owners to swap “flat” batteries with fully-charged ones for a fee.