Transport

UAE motorcycle rental firm invests in EV chargers

December 6, 2023, 2:43 PM

Easy Lease MotorCycle Rental is planning to expand across the GCC region

Easy Lease moves into charging
Fully Charged sells 60% stake
EV sales expected to soar

Easy Lease Motor Cycle Rental has acquired 60 percent of electric vehicle charger manufacturer, supplier and installer Fully Charged.

Since 2020 Dubai-based Fully Charged has installed more than 5,000 charging devices across the UAE for businesses including Damac, Dubai Holding and Emirates.

Easy Lease, listed on Abu Dhabi’s secondary market, wanta to double that number in the next year by expanding across the GCC and North Africa, it said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Experts forecast a 32 percent increase in sales of passenger electric vehicles (EVs) in the UAE this year.

Sales are expected to reach almost 22,000, while the total number of EVs is likely to exceed 370,000 by 2032, according to figures from analysts at BMI.

BMI said that while the ratio of EVs to charging points is expected to worsen in the short term, strong growth will alleviate the longer-term risk of EV uptake slowing drastically due to “high range anxiety”.

Global EV sales now make up about 13 percent of all vehicle sales and are likely to rise to between 40-45 percent of the market by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

Easy Lease, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company, has a fleet of over 25,000 bikes available for leasing to e-commerce, delivery, logistics and courier companies. It has recently launched new operations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The company posted revenue of AED 211.8 million in the third quarter of 2023, up 36 percent annually, while the company’s net profit stood at AED26.5 million compared to AED32.7 million for the same period in 2022.

It said it was exploring the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in goods transportation, with a vision to establish an aerial drone-based delivery system.

Separately, Kuwait-based EnerTech announced the launch of a solar-powered charging platform for electric motorcycles in the UAE last week. The first set of charging points will be deployed in partnership with the Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum.