Home-grown electric scooter company Scorpio Electric has contracted China’s BYD group to assemble its first product, the X1, in Shenzhen.

Scorpio, part of public-listed sports car distributor EuroSports Global, said on Tuesday (Jul 18) that it is in collaboration with Shenzhen BYD Electronics – a mobile phone and notebook subsidiary of BYD – to produce pre-production prototypes (PPR) of the X1.

“These PPR units will further undergo rigorous testing, certification and homologation to ensure the highest standards of quality and performance are met,” Scorpio said. Homologation is the process where it is approved for sale.

The company will then exhibit the X1 at the Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo Motociclo e Accessori exhibition – a leading motorcycle show – in Milan, Italy, from Nov 7-12.

Scorpio added that it will unveil “other future electric motorcycle models” at the show.

Joshua Goh, chief executive of Scorpio Electric, said that the company and BYD had been in discussions since 2022.

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“We were surprised that BYD would take on our job, because it’s relative small,” he added. “I was about to go to a Thai and European company to do the assembly for us.”

He said the X1 is still on target to go on sale by the end of 2023, and that he was targeting 2,000 to 3,000 units for first-year sales.

BYD made 1.86 million vehicles in 2022, mainly passenger cars and commercial vehicles. But recently, news had surfaced that it was looking into entering the two-wheeler market.

In 2022, it was reported that BYD was planning to tie up with Spanish motorcycle brand Nerva to build an electric motorcycle. The motorcycle would use BYD’s iron phosphate battery.

Goh, however, said the X1 will not be using BYD’s battery, but a 5 kWh battery from South Korea’s Samsung.

“The X1’s development is too advanced for us to switch,” he said. “But we are in discussion with BYD to use its battery for future products.”

Scorpio’s electric scooter has been in the works for more than four years, and like many others, the project was severely delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Goh said the X1’s main market will be Europe. “It’s a premium scooter made for the European market,” he added. THE STRAITS TIMES