Vmoto has entered into a joint venture in Pakistan patterned on the lines of its recent joint ventures in various other geographies.
Vmoto would form a joint venture with Plugin Technologies and own 51% of the joint venture, with the remaining 49% owned by the local partner. The new company would be called Vmoto Pakistan.
Overall, the two partners are planning to invest USD 2.0 million in the first year of operation, in a ratio of their shareholding. The 4-member board of the local company would be split 2:2 between the two partners. Vmoto would appoint the CEO, and the local partner would appoint the CFO.
Vmoto’s Strategic Play
We had reported on this strategic play a few months back.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility
This venture would be similar to the model Vmoto uses in other geographies. A large share of this investment would be used to set up the operations and buy Vmoto scooters, batteries, and charging stations for deployment in Pakistan. It is not clear that Vmoto Pakistan would also roll out a swapping network, though the significant investment suggests the same.
Normally, in these business plans, Vmoto works with the assumption that after a couple of years of nurturing, the joint venture would be stable enough to generate its own cash flow for growth and deploy more Vmoto products.
About Plugin Technologies and E2Ws in Pakistan
We track the Pakistan-based E2W manufacturers regularly. It is likely that Plugin Technologies operates a dealer network or is an importer of Chinese EVs, though we do not track any local player with the exact same name.
From the Vmoto press release:
Vmoto’s Positioning in Pakistan
In terms of local positioning, the Vmoto scooters (likely the VS1) would be one of the most modern electric scooters in the Pakistani market. The country’s E2W market has been booming in recent years, with several E2W manufacturers setting up shop. Almost all of them are local entrepreneurs importing Chinese two-wheelers or kits. One of the leading operators is Metro E-Vehicles, which locally assembles Yadea scooters. Other operators include Okla, Pakzon, Paradigm, Yes Electromotive, Jolta Electric, Vlektra, United Motorcycles, and Elfa.
The trend has moved from importing complete vehicles to importing and locally assembling kits. However, the biggest electric play is in retrofitting old Honda CD 70s into electric motorcycles using battery-motor-controller kits from China.
The Importance of Pakistan
After India, China, and Vietnam, the Pakistani E2W market is likely to be the fastest-growing in Asia, surpassing Indonesia and Thailand in electrification. InsightEV’s recently published report, Global Fleets: Opportunities for Electric Two-Wheelers (purchase link), lists Lahore and Karachi as important commercial E2W markets.
Pakistan has a large population base, and even though the country faces political turmoil and frequent armed conflicts on both sides of its border, one cannot deny the potential of electric mass mobility in the country, considering it is an oil importer. The most popular motorcycle in Pakistan is the Honda CD 70, sold by Atlas Honda in the country.
In our assessment of Lahore and Karachi, we forecasted a 30% penetration of electric vehicles into delivery fleets owing to the high TCO benefits. This also rides on the back of the Pakistan government’s target conversion of 30% of local two-wheeler production to electric by 2030. The government has allotted licenses to 31 companies for assembly. Further, import and customs duties on e-motorcycle parts, batteries, and chargers have been reduced to 1%. E2Ws are also exempt from registration fees and annual renewal fees.
At the province level, the Karachi (Sindh province) government announced in Feb 2025 that it would offer 1,000 free “pink” e-motorcycles to female students and working women via lottery. The provincial government also aims to install chargers every 50 km.
Similarly, for Lahore, at the state level, the Government of Punjab provides electric bikes to students on PKR 25,000 EMIs (USD 90) and a PKR 20,000 (USD 68) rebate. The government will also provide 40,000 subsidized electric bikes and has allocated PKR 4.0 billion (USD 14.0 million) has been allocated to promote electric two- and three-wheelers. There is also a program to convert old motorcycles into electric with owners receiving financial assistance covering 50% of the conversion cost. There is another program to provide 26,000 electric motorbikes and rickshaws to citizens on interest-free loans, including 10,000 electric bikes for students.
With these incentives and a delivery market that is primed for conversion to electric, Vmoto is entering at the right time. The big challenge is that Pakistan is regressive strongly gender-biased society, and primarily a male-dominated society. Most vehicle sales are motorcycles.
Vmoto’s commercial range is mostly scooters.
