Leading the charge on two wheels

While electric scooties may not have much motor power, a bike with peak power of 2, 000W can carry heavier loads. —Courtesy NCGCL On a Sunday, a family of five can climb onto a Honda CD 70 in North Nazimabad and head to the beach. On weekdays, the same bike can carry a commuter to work, a child to school and a delivery ride through an entire shift. This is the benchmark electric two-wheelers have to beat in Pakistan. “Essentially, Pakistan is a two-wheeler market, ” says Faraz Zaidi, Chairman Wasl Mobility Modaraba which provides financing solutions to underserved sectors, including electric mobility. Around two million motorcycles are sold in Pakistan every year and the total fleet exceeds 30m. The economics of switching to electric are compelling. Before the US attack on Iran, the operating cost of an EV bike was around 25 per cent of that of a conventional bike, including petrol, engine oil, spark plugs and filters. Since the war, it has fluctuated around 15pc, says Mr Zaidi. Electric two-wheelers are cheaper to run than a CD70, but that alone may not be enough to unseat the country’s petrol workhorse But the upfront cost remains a major obstacle. A CD70 costs Rs168, 000, while a proper lithium-powered electric bike costs more than Rs300, 000. The consumer therefore has to spend considerably more today to save on running costs later. The higher the mileage, the faster the payback from switching from petrol to electricity. In ballpark terms, Mr Zaidi estimates that the additional investment can be recovered in around 1. 5 years through fuel savings. Yet adoption remains limited. Last year, around 150, 000 electric bikes and scooties were sold across Pakistan. Fewer than 200, 000 of the 2m bikes sold annually are now electric, putting the adoption rate at less than 10pc, he says. A fragmented market One of the challenges is the range of options available, some with questionable quality. There are roughly 40 operational original equipment manufacturers making two-wheeler EVs in Pakistan because it is much easier to manufacture a bike than a car, says Ammar Habib Khan, CEO of National Credit Guarantee Company Limited, which is working on a financing model for two-wheeler EVs. One reason demand remains weak is that the market is too fragmented, says Mr Khan. He points to companies such as BYD, which helped build demand for Chinese cars globally by demonstrating that Chinese cars could be good quality at a competitive price. Pakistan’s electric two-wheeler market similarly needs an anchor brand, he argues. The absence of standardisation is another problem. Batteries account for roughly 40pc to 45pc of the cost of an electric bike. For a bike costing Rs200, 000, the battery alone can account for around Rs100, 000. Battery and motor capacity also determine what the bike can actually do. The greater the load, the faster the battery depletes, increasing range anxiety. Family electric two-wheelers? Parents and children, from babies to teenagers, routinely ride together on motorcycles as a form of family transport. Can an electric two-wheeler serve the same purpose? It comes down to motor power, explains Huma Yahya Khattak, CEO of Elfa, EV Technologies. While electric scooties may not have sufficient motor power, a bike with peak power of at least 2, 000 watts can carry a heavier load. But the greater the load, the faster the battery depletes, reducing the range. Road conditions pose another challenge. Electric scooties generally have very low ground clearance, which is poorly suited to Karachi’s roads. This is one reason there are more electric scooties in Lahore than in the port city. The CD70, meanwhile, remains a popular choice because it is reliable and has an established ecosystem of spare parts and maintenance. The electric bike also faces a problem that the CD70 does not: resale value. A bike can lose roughly 50pc of its value once it leaves the showroom, partly because there is no established secondary market for EV bikes and partly because the battery gradually loses capacity, much like the battery of the device on which this article is being read. Battery swapping could help address both the cost and inconvenience of battery degradation. Under the model, the consumer buys the bike but rents the battery, swapping a depleted battery for a charged one. The model has been used successfully in China. The charging problem The operational cost savings of EVs make sense only if the vehicles can be charged easily. A lack of charging infrastructure, combined with the fact that most of Karachi’s residents live in apartments, makes charging electric bikes a significant challenge. Yet consumers are finding ways around it. “Some of our customers have bought good extensions which they toss down from the balcony, ” says Ms Khattak. Others have arrangements with homes on the ground floor or nearby kiryana stores. Some charge their bikes at their offices. Businesses are also emerging around the charging problem. ChargePK, an app and community, allows drivers to locate the nearest charger. “There are at most only about 100 DC chargers in Pakistan at the moment, ” says Fahad Hassan, founder of ChargePK. “Most people don’t feel comfortable owning an EV because there is a lack of chargers. Even the ones available, not all are reliable. ” The app currently has 2, 500 users, mostly for cars, and only two for bikes. The problem is not merely the number of chargers. Many DC chargers in Pakistan do not allow bikes, while many bikes do not support the type of DC charging available. This creates an additional hurdle for consumers who cannot charge at home or at work, adds Mr Hassan. ChargePK is also in talks with e-swap technologies that would allow riders to exchange depleted batteries for charged ones. Such technology could be particularly important for delivery riders, for whom a bike is not simply a means of transport but a source of income. Foodpanda is a useful test case. Its riders spend their entire working day on their bikes, making them among the consumers who stand to gain the most from lower running costs. The higher the mileage, the shorter the payback period on an EV. Yet uptake has been slow, says Muntaqa Peracha, CEO of Foodpanda. Only around 150 bikes in a fleet of approximately 40, 000 are electric, largely because of charging times. “In the roughly 30 minutes it takes to charge an electric bike, a rider could be out making a delivery as that is approximately the time it takes to complete one order, ” says Mr Peracha. Simply put, charging a bike can cost a Foodpanda rider the earnings from one delivery. The supply-side squeeze While sky-high petrol prices following the US attack on Iran have pushed up demand for EVs, the momentum had actually started building in the second half of last year, says Mr Zaidi of Wasl Mobility Modaraba. Ms Khattak agrees, but says the bigger constraint on adoption is now on the supply side rather than the demand side. “The war was a ‘buzz’; demand started before the conflict broke out. However, managing working capital is a challenge. ” Electric bikes remain heavily dependent on imports from China, requiring letters of credit and strong credit lines. Without inventory, there can be no sales; without sales, there is not enough cash flow to replenish inventory. At 1, 000 units a month per OEM, an assembler must commit around Rs200 million in working capital before a single bike is sold, says Mr Khan. Elfa is a case in point. Ms Khattak says the company “is scrambling to get money to order more material”. Elfa imports completely knocked-down scooters from China and assembles them locally. It also manufactures its own batteries, while importing other components such as motors and controllers. The irony is that the economics of an electric two-wheeler are increasingly difficult to ignore. But in a market where the motorcycle is expected to carry a family, survive poor roads, retain its value and remain available for work all day, low running costs alone may not be enough to persuade Pakistan to give up its petrol-powered workhorse until a stronger ecosystem is in place. Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026

Read full story on Dawn