Electric motorcycles are being used by VIPs and in all-electric motorcades to escort delegates from the international community attending the annual G20 Summit.
The G20 is a global forum that includes 19 countries and the European Union, together representing the world’s 20 largest economies.
The main goals of the G20 Summit are to address issues with the global economy, including financial stability, climate change, and overall sustainability.
This year the G20 Summit is being held in Bali, Indonesia, where President Joko Widodo called for 100% of the government’s transportation used during the event to be electric vehicles.
In addition to electric cars, several high profile electric two-wheeler companies have been called on to supply electric motorcycles and mopeds for use at the Summit. Companies including Zero Motorcycles, Energica, Gogoro and NIU have all provided fleets for official use.
Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (center) on a Gogoro electric scooter
A representative from Taiwanese battery swapping giant and electric scooter manufacturer Gogoro explained to Electrek that the company jointly deployed 30 Gogoro SmartScooters and a GoStation battery swap center along with Indonesian Partner Electrum.
The scooters each use a pair of Gogoro’s famous green and black swappable batteries, allowing officials to ride the scooters until the batteries are nearly empty, then swap in freshly charged batteries in seconds.
That allows the scooters to stay on the road continuously instead of needing to stop for a multi-hour charge.
The move was likely facilitated by Gogoro’s presence in the country via a Jakarta pilot with Gojek, with electrum being created as a Gojek joint venture.
Electric scooters are growing in popularity in Indonesia, a country that has wholly embraced the benefits of two-wheeled vehicles over larger four-wheeled cars and trucks.
In fact, Indonesia has set a goal of putting 2 million electric motorcycles and scooters on the country’s roads by 2025.
They are now 300 e-scooters closer thanks to NIU’s electric scooters are also being used by officials at the event. The company provided 300 GOVA series electric scooters to the Indonesian National Police for use at the summit.
NIU electric scooters ready for the G20 Summit
Ahead of the event, California-based Zero Motorcycles announced that it has provided a fleet of nearly 300 electric motorcycles to the Indonesian National Police and National Armed Forces.
According to CEO Harun Sjech of PT, Elektrick Motoriz Global, the Indonesian Zero importer:
Meeting the ambitious zero-emissions goals set by President Joko Widodo was made possible thanks to the excellent partnership with both Zero motorcycles and the Indonesian Government, both organizations that are highly motivated to be leaders in transitioning away from fossil fuels. We are extremely proud to have delivered all of these motorcycles and we look forward to building on our relationships with both Zero and the Indonesian government.
The fleet of nearly 300 motorcycles provided by Zero is mostly comprised of the Zero DSRP (Police) model, which is available exclusively to global fleet operators and authority forces.
Zero’s large delivery also includes SR/S and SR/F models that had been modified for tactical use by the Indonesian security apparatus.
As CEO of Zero Motorcycles Sam Paschel added:
We applaud President Widodo and the entire Indonesian Government for their clear vision, admirable climate leadership goals, and for the speed with which they sought to equip and train their staff for the G20 Summit. The G20 is an extremely important platform and being able to deliver a large fleet of reliable electric motorcycles for the event is a credit to our amazing team, and a benefit for the entire world.
Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica also announced recently that it received an order of 88 Energica EsseEsse9+ electric motorcycles from the Indonesian National Police ahead of the G20 Summit.
Energica CEO Livia Cevolini underscored the importance of electric motorcycles leading the charge, saying:
When G20 delegates arrive in Bali, they will be welcomed and escorted by a security detail riding Energica bikes. That means their first experience will be seeing zero-emission, high-performance vehicles in action. My hope is that this experience sticks with each delegate throughout the summit and in all discussions around climate change and transportation.
Even conventional, low-power electric bicycles have proven popular with an increasing number of police departments looking to supplement their patrol cars with lighter electric two-wheelers that can penetrate deeper into city alleyways, community parks, and other areas normally off limits to larger police vehicles.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
If you ask the average American which country is doing the most to improve e-bike battery safety, most people probably wouldn’t guess China. But that’s exactly where the world’s strongest, most comprehensive lithium-ion safety rules are coming from – and the latest round just went into effect today.
Beginning December 1, China has officially banned the sale of all e-bikes built to the older national standard, replacing them with a new, far stricter rule set known as GB 17761-2024. Under the announcement from the State Administration for Market Regulation, any e-bike sold in China from today forward must carry a valid CCC certification under this brand-new standard. Older certificates are now invalid, and retailers caught selling non-compliant bikes face enforcement from local regulators.
The new rules go far beyond what most countries require. They tighten fire-resistance requirements, restrict the amount of plastic allowed on an e-bike, cap total vehicle weight, and mandate improved electrical safety. The regulations also work hand-in-hand with a second standard, the already-implemented GB 43854-2024, which sets some of the toughest lithium-ion battery testing requirements in the world, including mandatory over-charge protection, thermal abuse tests, puncture tests, and a ban on repurposed or second-hand cells, a major cause of past fires.
Balancing safety and convenience for existing owners, Chinese regulators also built in consumer protections. Bikes that were already purchased and registered under the old rules won’t be forced off the road. And companies are required to support repairs and spare parts for at least the next five years. But unregistered “old-standard” bikes must have been formally plated already, or they’ll no longer be legal to operate.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
For a country often stereotyped as producing unsafe batteries, the reality is almost the opposite. China is now setting the global pace on e-bike safety – aggressively tightening standards, sharply reducing fire risks, and pushing manufacturers to meet levels of testing that most of Europe and the US still haven’t matched.
A prominent European EV repair specialist is sounding the alarm on Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles equipped with LG battery cells manufactured in China, claiming they are seeing “catastrophic” failure rates and significantly shorter lifespans compared to Panasonic packs.
For years, the narrative around Tesla’s move to Chinese battery suppliers has been generally positive, with the LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) packs from CATL proving to be extremely durable.
However, Tesla also sources Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cells from LG Energy Solution’s Nanjing facility for its Long Range and Performance models in Europe and parts of Asia.
Now, EV Clinic, a Croatia-based independent research and repair facility known for diving deep into battery diagnostics, has issued a severe warning regarding these specific LG NCM811 packs.
Advertisement – scroll for more content
According to the firm, data from its repair center suggests a stark difference in quality between Tesla’s two main higher-energy-density packs: the US-made Panasonic NCA packs and the Chinese-made LG NCM packs.
“We are raising serious concerns about Tesla Model 3/Y LG NCM811 battery packs (LGES Nanjing), which exhibit very high failure rates and significantly shorter lifespans compared to Panasonic NCA packs (Made in USA).”
The shop claims that while Panasonic packs are generally repairable and can last up to 250,000 miles before cell failure, the LG equivalents are approaching end-of-life at around 150,000 miles.
More concerning is the nature of the failure. EV Clinic states that in over 90% of the cases they see with LG packs, cell-level repair is “impossible.”
The issue appears to be widespread degradation across the modules rather than a single bad cell bringing down the pack. They found that LG cells often show extremely high internal resistance.
“A failing Panasonic cell hits roughly 28 mΩ, which is the measurement for LG cells when brand new… Out of 46 cells, it’s common to find 15 cells over 100 mΩ ACIR, and the remaining 30 cells above 50 mΩ ACIR.”
The lab shared an example from a Tesla battery module:
Because the degradation is so uniform and severe, replacing a single faulty module is described as “operationally unsustainable,” as the remaining weakened cells are likely to fail in a cascade shortly after.
The situation has become so problematic for the shop that they announced they are introducing a “feasibility fee” just to check if these specific packs can be repaired, noting that they are “losing over €20,000 each month” attempting to fix packs that are effectively dead.
At this moment, during ongoing experimental testing with real customers experiencing LG failures, we are losing over €20,000 per month in operational time while investigating whether LG’s Chinese NCM811 systems can be sustainably repaired. At this stage, we can confidently say: the cells are, to put it mildly, catastrophic. Panasonic has mostly single-cell failures at 250,000km, and it is repairable, whereas LG has multiple-cell failures.
Their advice to owners with failed LG packs? Swap it for a used Panasonic pack or go to Tesla for a full replacement.
Electrek’s Take
This is a pretty damning report from a shop that is well-respected in the aftermarket repair community for actually tearing these things apart and attempting to fix them rather than just swapping them out.
We know that Tesla has been diversifying its battery supply chain aggressively, and for the most part, it has worked out well. The CATL LFP packs are tanks, heavy, but durable. But the NCM chemistry is trickier, and if these findings from EV Clinic hold up across a larger sample size, it could be a headache for Tesla, especially in Europe, where many of the China-made NCM packs end up.
It’s worth noting that this applies specifically to the LG NCM811 packs from Nanjing. Many US Tesla owners have Panasonic packs, which this report actually praises as highly durable and repairable.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.
Thanksgiving may be over, and the official Black Friday date may have passed, but that doesn’t mean savings have slowed down any, with us now having shifted over into Cyber Monday sales. Many of the previous Black Friday Green Deals we spotted up until today are continuing – some ending tonight with the holiday, while others are continuing on through the rest of the week. If you didn’t jump on these deals last week, you still have time to score the best prices of the year across e-bikes, EVs, power stations, tools, eco-friendly appliances, and much more. We’ve thrown all the best deals into this one-stop shopping hub for all your greener needs and will continue updating it throughout the week. Head below to browse all the best Cyber Monday Green Deals while they last.
