🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Indonesia matters in Southeast Asia

• Indonesia has more than 122 million motorcycles, which makes it one of the world’s biggest two-wheel markets and a tough contest for electric mobility firms 1.
• VinFast is pushing battery swapping to ease a common pain point. Many standard electric motorcycles need up to four hours to recharge 2.
• The company still faces a real test. Research suggests many riders in Indonesia prefer plug-in charging over battery swapping today 1.
• The market sits within VinFast’s 2026 plan for five countries, alongside the Philippines, India, Thailand, and Malaysia 3.

A US$300 million charging push may help the wider network

• The scooter rollout also lines up with a move by V-GREEN, a VinFast-linked EV charging operator, to build an Indonesia network only for VinFast electric vehicles 4.
• The effort centers on electric cars. It carries a projected US$300 million spend for about 63,000 charging ports by the end of 2025 5.
• VinFast has paired vehicle sales with support services. The package includes stores, after-sales care, financing, charging, plus battery swapping through work with V-GREEN 3.
• To speed the rollout, V-GREEN is offering partners 750 rupiah (US$0.042) per kWh for power purchases plus a guaranteed annual return of up to 25% in the first three years 4.