PETALING JAYA: Main Market-listed EP Manufacturing Bhd through its wholly-owned subsidiary, EP Blueshark Sdn Bhd (EPSB), had signed a collaboration agreement with Grabcar Sdn Bhd, and smart scooter provider Blueshark Ecosystem Sdn Bhd (Blueshark), to form a working relationship and jointly explore business opportunities.
Under the agreement, EPSB will work with Grab and Blueshark to promote and champion green mobility as well as environment, social and governance (ESG) programmes. Together, these programmes aim to convert 80,000 Grab driver-partners and delivery-partners from users of internal combustion engine motorcycles to users of electric vehicle (EV) motorcycles.
Two key initiatives were announced as part of the agreement -with the first entailing its R1 Pilot Programme, where Blueshark will provide, free of charge, 50 units of R1 EV motorcycles to selected Grab delivery partners for a product trial, in order to gather experiential data for Blueshark’s EV motorcycles, while promoting cost saving with green mobility.
The second initiative is the EV Programme. Under this initiative, EPSB will manufacture, assemble and distribute the Blueshark IOV Electric Motorcycle, a smart electric scooter model that Blueshark will offer to Grab’s driver-partners and delivery-partners at a special offer price. In addition, EPSB will provide a factory warranty for the Blueshark IOV Electric Motorcycle.
Meanwhile, EPMB group CEO Ahmad Razlan Mohamed (pix) said that the collaboration with Grab will enable EPMB and Blueshark access to an extensive user network belonging to the former, which is well-known in the current gig economy.
“It is also in line with one of our shared goals with Blueshark, which is to empower Malaysians with truly accessible mobility solutions.
“Grab has been a pioneer in sustainable mobility. In May 2022, it committed to achieving carbon neutrality within its ecosystem by 2040 as part of its ESG goals for sustainable and inclusive growth. We believe this new collaboration will help accelerate it towards this objective and look forward to (the) partnership,“ he said in a statement today.
