MCLS Synergy Co Ltd (Thada), a Phnom Penh-based company primarily involved in the electric vehicle (EV) business, has integrated Malaysia’s Datasonic Corp Sdn Bhd into its business expansion strategy.

Thada will provide Datasonic Corp, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur - listed Datasonic Group Berhad, with technical support and knowledge transfer - related assistance, in order to capture a greater slice of the Malaysian e motorcycle market.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to this end on August 18 via video link by Thada managing director Syaiful Hazreen Hasan Nodin and Datasonic executive director BC Chuah.

Syaiful Hazreen voiced appreciation to Datasonic for choosing Thada “as their trusted partner in the new market”, saying the two firms aim to produce 500 e-motorcycles by the end of next year.

“Besides producing e-motorcycles, we plan to set up an adequately extensive network of e-charging and e-battery stations across Malaysia to resolve a range of customer concerns. This will encourage people to adopt the exemplars of green tech that are e-motorcycles, and save the country from pollution by eliminating exhaust gas emissions,” he said.

Chuah said Datasonic is also eager to expand their business, and venture into the EV business through the new partnership with Thada, which he painted as an established and experienced firm.

“We are looking forward to promote the use of e-motorcycles in Malaysia, a country which has yet to widely adopt EV technology,” he said.

Going forward, Datasonic plans to establish an assembly plant in Klang, Selangor to meet the burgeoning demand for e-motorcycles in Malaysia.

The company says it will pour more resources into converting conventional fossil fuel motorcycles into the more environmentally-friendly EVs, in tandem with a UN directive concerning the management of climate change by limiting global temperature rises relative to pre-industrial levels.

Thada has its work cut out if it is to make any meaningful dent in fossil fuel use in Cambodia. There were more than five million registered vehicles in the Kingdom in 2019, as reported by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Of these, 85 per cent were motorbikes, with e-motorbikes accounting for less than 0.1 per cent. In 2019, 640,183 new vehicles were registered, of which 531,269 were motorbikes.

Back in late-March the company penned a similar MoU, agreeing to produce 1,000 electric scooters this year for Singaporean-owned Oyika Pte Ltd to outfit with its battery-swap technology and put on the market in the capital.