Greetings, this is the InsightEV editor, and I am happy to bring you the Weekender: Week 15.
Deep dive with Ryvid
Motorcycle designers take inspiration from various sources, and the Ryvid excites us, considering the inspiration is from origami, the art of paper folding. A motorcycle carved out of pressed steel sheets fastened with PEM nuts to create a hollow monocoque is smart. They manufacture in California, and if they had not designed for manufacturability, the costs would have spiralled out of control.
Ryvid is designed not only for ease of manufacturing but also for ease of maintenance. Its YouTube channel is full of tutorial videos to guide customers to replace anything and everything in their motorcycles.
Ryvid is also one of the rare stories of American electric motorcycle startups that have actually made it to production.
So we were chuffed when we sat down with Dong Tran, the CEO of Ryvid, a few days back. The interview is now live.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
Ola Electric Starts Manufacturing Roadster X
Ola Electric’s founder, Bhavish Aggarwal, tweeted photos and videos of the start of production of the Roadster X motorcycle.
Taking the EV revolution to the next level with the roll-out of our first Roadster X today!🏍️
Super proud of the entire team @OlaElectric who worked relentlessly to build the future of motorcycling in India, and taking us closer to #EndICEAge 🙌⚡ pic.twitter.com/lJI0qaNyLf
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) April 11, 2025
The launch of the much-delayed motorcycle is important for the company. Motorcycles outsell scooters 2:1 in the Indian market, and the Ola Roadsster X is the first important motorcycle by a major participant.
The company has been in the eye of the storm recently, with the government raising questions on the veracity of its February sales numbers. At the same time, competitors like Bajaj Auto and TVS have taken a lead in the last two months.
Meanwhile, the first 12 days of Indian registration data for April indicate that Ola Electric is again leading in sales.
Honda in Vietnam
Honda has released the prices and battery rental charges for the CUV e: and the ICON e: in the Vietnamese market. The ICON e: starts at VND 26.8m. This includes the charger but excludes the battery, a rental-only option.
Meanwhile, the CUV e: is not even for sale – the whole scooter can be rented if you are in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, or Da Nang. Rentals start at VND 1.5m, and Honda says you can rent it starting in July 2025.
Dirt Freak from Japan
Dirt Freak is a Japanese manufacturer of aftermarket motorcycle parts. Now, it has plans to become an E2W manufacturer. We like the GE-N3 for its design aesthetics and CMF.
However, it’s all show with little go. Power is from a 2.8 kW peak mid-drive motor for a 55 kph top speed. There is a 1.7 kWh battery pack for a 100 km promised range (at 30 kph).
It’s already on sale in Japan.
Niu has a Stellar Q1
Niu Technologies has reported a 57% jump in sales volumes in Q1 2025 on a year-on-year basis, with unit sales crossing 203k units. This was mostly driven by the Chinese market where sales volumes jumped by 66%.
ZEWAY Bankrupt?
Later this week, Sieghart Michielsen’s rather excellent This Week in Urban Mobility newsletter (highly recommend) informed that ZEWAY, a battery swapping and electric scooter player operating in Paris, Nice and Côte d’Azur, has ceased operations. ZEWAY raised EUR 41m (USD 47m) in its life, with EUR 15m (USD 17.1m) coming in 2023.
That’s a wrap for today. This newsletter will be back next Saturday. The posts on the website are more frequent. This is your editor, and you may view my LinkedIn profile here.
