Meet three startups offering three different solutions to tackle the biggest roadblock to the electric bike revolution in Pakistan. But do they have what it takes to win?

Two LUMS grads, a Silicon Valley software engineer from Pakistan, and a Chinese billionaire walk into a bar. All four converge on the same issue: flooding Pakistan with a tsunami of electric bikes. 

The idea of transport powered by electricity is not new to the world and not entirely new to Pakistan either. We have seen how hybrid and electric cars have swallowed up space in what was once a very narrow automobile market available to Pakistanis. We have also seen the introduction of electric buses in major cities (more successfully in Lahore than in Karachi). Both of these possibilities have been bolstered by Pakistan’s solar revolution. 

But speak to any stakeholder and they will confirm that the true potential for electric-powered transport in Pakistan is in the two-wheeler segments. Bikes already power Pakistan. Cheap models like the CD70 and its many iterations by different companies are the go-to for Pakistanis in major cities and rural areas alike. The idea has been that if these bikes can be shifted to electricity rather than petrol, it will be a major load off the import bill and a great relief to household purchasing power. 

But the electric bike question is not one without its complications. Put simply, electric bikes are more expensive. For an average user of motorbikes (and we know it is a generalization), money is a big issue. Most people in Pakistan who drive a motorbike are not exactly the group with deep pockets. An electric bike which could give them a range good enough to match the experience of an ICE-powered bike would generally be priced at over 3 lakh rupees, often exceeding 4 lakhs. Compare that to the workhorse of choice – the Honda CD70 – which is priced at around 1.6 lakhs, and the extent of additional investment required (in percentage terms) becomes clear.

But this is not a problem without solutions. The first solution would obviously be to provide prospective buyers with financing to cover the additional costs of buying an electric bike. This might come from banks, the informal sector, or through mobility financing initiatives such as the Wasl Mobility Modaraba. The way this would work is that the electric bike users would pay off the loan in installments from the savings they would make by using electric bikes. This is essentially Wasl’s model.