Electric two-wheeler Horwin debuts in New Zealand

Friday, 15 July 2022

Chinese electric scooter manufacturer, Horwin, is coming to New Zealand.

Horwin, Chinese maker of things electric and with two wheels, has landed in New Zealand with a national dealer network and the ex-head of MG at the helm.

The company was established in 2013 and expanded to Europe four years later, where it has more than 300 dealers. Now it has launched in New Zealand, partnering with local distributor Goscoot.

Horwin will initially offer two scooters, the EK1 and EK3.

Goscoot was founded by industry veteran Anthony MacLean, who successfully reintroduced the MG brand to New Zealand, to take advantage in the growth of the micro-mobility market that has happened over the last few years.

“The nexus for me happened when I was a speaker at an EV conference last year. We were talking about the expansion of BEV and PHEVs (Battery Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles), and how the running costs for electric are so much cheaper than petrol. But the challenge for me was and still is that EV’s are too expensive for most.”

The EK3 can hit speeds of 90kph and go for up to 80km.

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The micromobility area is expanding rapidly with e-scooters and e-bikes becoming more and more mainstream. New Zealand market revenue for micromobility is forecast to grow from $9.5 million in 2021 to $2.45 billion by 2030, helped in part by skyrocketing petrol prices.

“I wanted to find options for people who wanted to be more environmentally sustainable, who wanted cheaper transport options, or who didn’t need a car, but they did want the flexibility, freedom and frugality of their own electric transport.”

The initial model line-up consists of the EK1 ($5295 plus on-roads) and EK3 ($7495 plus on-roads) scooters. Both use a removable 2.6kWh battery that charges in around four hours from a standard wall outlet, and offers a range of up to 90km in the EK1 and up to 80km in the EK3.

Differences come in the motor, rated at 2.8kW in the EK1 and 6.2kW in the EK3, putting the former in the moped class and making the latter the equivalent of a 125cc scooter, necessitating a motorcycle licence. It’ll also hit speeds of up to 90kph, rather than the 50kph limit of the EK1.

All EK models have a reverse gear and cruise control as standard, while the EK3 also has combined braking, keyless go, an alarm and a USB charging outlet.

Horwin New Zealand has appointed six dealers across the country, in Auckland – Manukau and Central Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch. These will be named in the coming weeks, with more on the way.