Thailand
Cambodia: E-bikes waiting for gov’t nod to roll out across Kingdom
Asia Pacific region is expected to be the largest market for e-bikes in the coming years, says Research And Markets 2021 report. The global e-bikes market is predicted to reach a value of $79.7 billion by 2026, almost double of what it is today.
So why is it that these clean and efficient vehicles, which are ubiquitous in so many countries across the world, replacing the pollutant cars and scooters, are so absent from the streets in Cambodia? The arguments for the promotion of e-bikes in Cambodia are multiple.
Last week the Environment Ministry announced worsening air quality in the country with an obvious impact on the health care system dealing with a portion of the estimated 4.2 million people killed each year from related diseases.
However, despite Ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra, outlining diesel-burning vehicles and increased fossil fuel burning transportation as being among the leading causes for the increased pollution but none of the four guidelines the Ministry issued for reducing air pollution included measures to address emissions produced from transportation.
Another economic incentive is the cost-saving with charging a battery as an electric bike is estimated to be roughly four to ten times cheaper (depending on fluctuations between country to country) than the price of gasoline to power a scooter covering the same distance.
The transition from a petrol-powered car to an electric bike is even more dramatic in terms of its environmental impact going by the figures of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which estimates that a typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Also to be considered is the opportunity that a potential internal market of e-bicycles present. Cambodia is already a major producer of bicycles having exported $514 million worth of bicycles in the first 10 months of last year and present in the country are already companies active in e-bicycle or scooter construction as well as the related technologies such as Voltra, Oyika, Grood, and Tinky.
Last June Public Works and Transport Minister, Sun Chanthol said: “The use of electric vehicles will reduce operating costs and avoid greenhouse gas emissions in Cambodia when an electric vehicle recharges with renewable energy,” matching similar rhetoric that accompanies government references to its support of Electric Vehicles (EVs), which include also electric bicycles.
An E-mobility Campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of EVs was launched last year by EnergyLab Cambodia and the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) promoting electric vehicles (EVs) such as electric motorbikes, cars, bicycles, and scooters, but so far, besides a relatively modest increase in the presence of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) on the roads, e-bicycles are virtually not to be seen.
Sokphalkun Out is the Clean Energy & Mobility Engagement Coordinator at EnergyLab Cambodia, which supports clean energy businesses in the country with a particular focus on startups, thinks that the step towards an embrace of the use of e-bicycles and electric motorbikes in the country hinges on key government decisions.
“The uptake of electric motorbikes in Cambodia would be accelerated with government policies that support charging infrastructure, tax incentives on imports, and subsidies,” she said, adding that “such policies would incentivise the users to gain more trust in technology and provide more reliability to them.”
Veasna Srey is the founder and owner of an innovative and fascinating operation that produces quality electric bicycles in Phnom Penh, and while from France originally, he has a unique vantage point on the market and the particular social context here. He sees one of the reasons that have hindered the embrace of electric bikes in Cambodia, such as one that many European countries are not familiar with being accustomed to seeing people of all walks of life using electric bicycles for commuting or basic transport needs in their more affluent cities.
“One problem is that I think people in Cambodia don’t know what an electric bicycle is yet,” he said to the Khmer Times, explaining, “many come to my shop and see an electric bicycle for the first time, having previously understood an electric bike to be an electric scooter that is purely motorised. My goal is to develop a real bicycle that requires pedalling but is assisted with an electric motor.”
Despite a slow uptake of e-bicycles in Cambodia Vaesna is inspired by the “young Khmer taking more interest in e-bicycles and end up buying one” of theirs.
“More and more foreigners prefer to convert their bikes,” he said referring to the remarkable service Grood offers of converting customers’ own personal bicycles into electric-powered ones. “Even if you have 10-20 percent more people riding bicycles it will change a lot the image of the city,” he said, adding, “Ïf we can sell one per day in PP it will be a very good success. If I have more people retrofit their bikes it’s even better: less new products, more recycles, good fight against global warming.”
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501021543/e-bikes-waiting-for-govt-nod-to-roll-out-across-kingdom/