Vingroup-backed ride-hailing service Green SM has launched an electric motorbike service in Jakarta, marking its first foray into two-wheeled mobility outside Vietnam and directly challenging the informal-turned-digital ojek economy that Grab and Gojek have spent a decade embedding into Indonesian daily life.
Announced last week, the launch pairs Green SM’s existing electric-taxi fleet with VinFast-manufactured Evo and Feliz II scooters, giving the company a full-stack, all-electric offering in a city where petrol-powered motorbikes still dominate short-distance trips.
Bookings are handled through the Green SM app, which includes a “Green Now” option for faster pickups. The rollout is positioned as part of a broader “Green Your Move, Refresh Your City” campaign in partnership with Indonesia’s environment ministry.
The rider proposition centers on aggressive launch-week discounts: up to 75% off a first ride and 25% off subsequent rides, both capped at IDR 10,000 (approximately US$0.56) per trip, valid until September 22. The driver proposition is more distinctive, as Green SM attempts to outmaneuver incumbents on earnings guarantees.
Drivers can join via two pathways. A rent-to-own plan starts at IDR 39,000 (about US$2.18) per day, with Green SM promising guaranteed daily earnings of up to IDR 160,000 (US$8.94) and full vehicle ownership after two years. Alternatively, a flexible rental option spanning three, six, or 12 months requires a IDR 150,000 (US$8.38) deposit, offering the same guaranteed earnings for the first two months plus performance bonuses. Up to five free battery swaps per day via the V-Green network aim to neutralize the running-cost advantage that has kept many drivers on petrol bikes.
This guaranteed-earnings model is a familiar playbook in Southeast Asia, though its track record is mixed. VinFast has employed the same lever for four-wheel rentals elsewhere in the region, correctly identifying upfront cost—rather than range anxiety—as the primary barrier to EV adoption among ride-hailing drivers. Whether Green SM can sustain these subsidies once promotional periods expire remains an open question, one its press materials do not address.
Context is critical. Indonesia is not a blank slate for electric two-wheelers, nor for Vingroup’s ambitions. VinFast’s entry was endorsed by President Joko Widodo in 2024, and the automaker has since built an aftersales network through a partnership with Otoklix to assure buyers that EV servicing outside Vietnam is viable. Green SM’s motorbike launch represents the next layer of that market-entry strategy: from selling cars, to operating a ride-hailing fleet, to now owning the two-wheeled segment of that fleet.
The company cites global figures of roughly 850 million rides, nearly 6 billion kilometers traveled, and over 800,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided—equivalent, it claims, to the absorption capacity of 36 million trees. These figures are striking but Vietnam-heavy, self-reported, and unverified, a caveat worth noting given the centrality of the sustainability narrative to Green SM’s pitch to riders and regulators alike.
The competitive landscape is defined by Grab and GoTo’s Gojek, which still handle the vast majority of Indonesian ride-hailing and food-delivery volume. Merger talks between the two have resurfaced repeatedly, even as regulators view a combination warily. Both incumbents already operate electric-motorbike pilots, largely through third-party fleet partnerships rather than owned inventory. Green SM’s vertically integrated approach—owning the app, the vehicles, and the charging network—is a genuine point of differentiation, albeit a heavier balance-sheet commitment in a market where GoTo has recently trimmed spending to pursue profitability.
Green SM’s global CEO, Pham Nhat Minh Hoang, framed the launch as building “a comprehensive fully electric mobility ecosystem” and positioning the company as a long-term partner in Indonesia’s emissions-reduction goals. Such civic framing is standard for a Vingroup entity, whose ambitions extend well beyond Jakarta: VinFast is racing to expand its manufacturing footprint from India to the Middle East, suggesting this launch is one stop on a larger international rollout rather than a bespoke bet on the city.
The broader competitive question sits one level up, in Vietnam, where Tesla has just registered a local subsidiary as its rivalry with VinFast intensifies. If that fight sharpens VinFast’s manufacturing and pricing discipline at home, it could feed directly into how aggressively Green SM can subsidize fares and driver earnings abroad. Conversely, if it drains capital and management attention, Jakarta’s promotional pricing may prove to be exactly that—promotional.
For now, Green SM has a functional app, a fleet of new scooters, and a week of steep discounts. Whether Jakarta’s drivers—who have watched ride-hailing subsidy wars come and go for a decade—take the guaranteed-earnings pitch at face value is the story worth watching once the promotional period ends.