naturenix Inc. (head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yasuki Kanazawa; the "Company") is pleased to announce that its proposed theme "Feasibility study for the demonstration of a next-generation energy platform for electric-motorbike adoption — long-life battery technology combined with ultra-rapid charging" (target country: Thailand; target area: Greater Bangkok) has been selected by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under the program "International Demonstration of Japanese Technologies for Decarbonization and Energy Transition / Feasibility Study."
1. Background
In Southeast Asia, two-wheelers are the backbone of short-range urban mobility. To address urban air quality and rising fuel costs, governments are accelerating the shift to electric motorbikes. Thailand's "EV30@30" policy targets a 30% electrification rate of new vehicle sales by 2030. However, conventional lithium-ion batteries suffer from short service life under hot and humid conditions, long charging times, and thermal-runaway risk, which have impeded adoption in commercial use cases such as delivery and motorbike taxis.
2. Proposal
The Company will combine Toshiba's lithium-titanate (LTO) cell SCiB™ with its proprietary minutes-scale ultra-rapid charging technology and long-life battery pack to design and validate a rental-based operating model — "electric motorbike + minute-scale rapid-charging infrastructure" — in Bangkok. The feasibility study will benchmark rapid charging against battery-swap operations, model unit economics for last-mile delivery and food-delivery use cases, and assess the local regulatory, subsidy, and infrastructure environment, in order to validate the transition to the subsequent design and demonstration phases.
3. Schedule
(1) Feasibility study: ~Feb 2026 – Sep 2026
(2) Demonstration design: ~Nov 2026 – Oct 2027
(3) Demonstration research: ~Nov 2027 – Oct 2030
4. Targeted impact
The Company's technology aims to deliver roughly ten times the service life of conventional lithium-ion packs (approximately ten years), materially reduced thermal-runaway risk, and roughly one-tenth the charging time. This shrinks the battery inventory required to run a fleet to about one quarter of swap-based operations, lowering both lifecycle cost and lifecycle CO₂ emissions. Lessons learned in Thailand are expected to scale across ASEAN and, in the longer term, into other hot-humid markets such as India and Africa.
5. Structure
This feasibility study will be conducted by naturenix under a direct commission (sole tender) from NEDO. The intergovernmental agreement between NEDO and the Thai counterpart authority, and the subsidy structure under which naturenix would work with Japanese collaborating partners and Thai local partners under contract, are envisaged for the subsequent demonstration research phase. naturenix has already established WINDEE INTERNATIONAL (WDI), a joint venture in Thailand, which will serve as the operational hub on the ground.
Reference
NEDO selection notice (Japanese): https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/800037331.pdf
Building on this selection, naturenix will accelerate the social implementation of "electrification without strain" — pairing Japanese battery technology with on-the-ground needs in ASEAN — and contribute to the decarbonization of two-wheel mobility across the region.