Just a couple of months ago, we noted that Vietnamese EV maker VinFast, which gained notoriety in the US some years back for making EV SUVs that most reviewers here absolutely dunked on, was evidently about to bring some of its EV scooters to Indonesia for the first time. And for those unfamiliar with vehicle culture in Indonesia, this makes a ton of sense: It's a place where small-displacement motorbikes reign supreme, and it's also a place where electrification is making massive inroads, due in large part to a concerted governmental push for EV adoption.
Four years ago, I rode VinFast's scooters. In fact, at that time, the company told me it planned to bring them to the US, as well. Notably, at the time, the company did not give a timeline for this plan; and to be fair, that's a thing that many companies do, for many reasons.
I can't say for sure what the motivating factors were in this specific case. What I do know is that EV scooters like the ones that VF makes tend to work better in places where commuting on two wheels is a cultural norm. Unfortunately, much as I and others might wish it were different, that's not a thing that describes most of the riding culture in the US. There are some of us who'll do it, of course; and there always will be. But generally speaking, we're the odd ones out.
But let's say that you're a decision-maker at VinFast. If that's you, then a place like Indonesia makes all the sense in the world as one you'd want to launch your EV scooters in. That's probably why, beginning over the weekend of July 18, 2026, VinFast began opening dealerships across Indonesia. While it's offering its autos in the country as well, it's very specifically pushing its electric scooter line in its promotional materials.
The grand opening of its dealership network in Indonesia will run from July 19 through 25, 2026, and will come with a couple of different battery options. The entire line relies on a pair of 1.5 kWh LFP batteries tucked under the seat, and owners can either choose to join a battery-swapping subscription plan, or else charge them at home like any other rechargeable modern device. During the motorbike launch period, VF is also offering a year's worth of free battery swapping at its V-Green battery swapping centers to early adopters. There's one limitation to be aware of here: The "free swaps for a year" apparently only covers a total of 20 swaps per month.
But VinFast, it seems, is only getting started on its international expansion plans.
New Design Patent Filings Show That Indonesia Isn't The Only Country Starting With "I" That's On The Expansion List
What's the single biggest motorbike market in the world in 2026? If you said "India," you'd be correct. To be fair, you'd be correct if you said that most of the time. Crucially, India is also in a state of transition, where more EV infrastructure and EV adoption is still winding out on a regular basis.
When taken together, those two factors make it almost a no-brainer why a company like VinFast might want to wade right into those waters and take the plunge into the Indian EV two-wheeler market. While no formal announcements have been made just yet, the fact that VinFast filed two separate EV two-wheeler design patents in India would seem to indicate the company's interest in that market. And it's worth noting that while one of them looks like the familiar face of an EV scooter we already know, the other appears to be an actual EV motorcycle that we haven't seen before.
Filing design patents clearly indicates interest in a market, even if a company has yet to establish itself in said market just yet. What it doesn't do is indicate any kind of timeline, as is the case with what VF told me several years ago. Design patents also don't give technical information, so there's no telling what kind of motor or batteries or anything else might be involved with that EV motorcycle.
It's one low-res profile shot, and the bodywork (though not the headlight) makes it bear a bit of a resemblance to the Honda WN7, which has been scooping design awards since its introduction. How will it fare against homegrown machines like the impressive Ultraviolette F77? What about Hero's forays into EV motorcycles?
India is massively into motorbikes, it's true; but it's also an incredibly competitive market. Will VinFast be able to carve out a space for itself? We'll be interested to see how things pan out.
