"Entrepreneurship, to me, is the greatest challenge one can take on. It’s about solving problems, building something impactful, and constantly learning. But it’s not just my journey—it’s a shared commitment with my family, who have to endure the sacrifices and uncertainties with me. It’s a choice we make together, and I remind myself daily that this isn’t just about me." - ZQ, Co-founder of Sleek EV
"We chose Thailand because it’s a unique market for EV adoption. It’s not just about its centralized geography or the strong motorcycle culture. Thai consumers have this incredible social dynamic where technology adoption spreads quickly through their networks. Combine that with the government’s support for EVs, and we saw an opportunity that felt right." - ZQ, Co-founder of Sleek EV
"We realized early on that for EVs to succeed in Southeast Asia, affordability and reliability are everything. Consumers care about the cost, how long the bike will last, and whether repairs are simple and accessible. ESG might be a priority for investors, but for the everyday user, they’re thinking, ‘Can this vehicle meet my needs without breaking the bank?’ That’s where we focused our design efforts." - ZQ, Co-founder of Sleek EV
Zhang Quan (ZQ) is the co-founder and COO of Sleek EV, one of the fastest-growing electric motorcycle companies in Southeast Asia. With over five years of experience in the electric motorcycle industry, ZQ has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of sustainable transportation. Before launching Sleek EV, he co-founded companies that distributed various electric motorcycle brands and developed Thailand's first digital financing platform for electric motorcycle hire purchase.
A passionate advocate for the startup ecosystem, ZQ has held positions at tech companies such as Klook in Singapore and collaborated with pioneering Spotify team members in New York City to establish a social networking app, which attracted over 300,000 users within just six months. Currently, he balances his professional commitments with family life, shuttling between Bangkok and Singapore.
ZQ, Cofounder of Sleek EV, and Jeremy Au discussed:
1. Electric Vehicle Founder Passion: ZQ shared his unconventional path from university studies to co-founding Sleek EV. Pivotal milestones include being inspired by his parents’ entrepreneurial roots and self-discovery traveling in a self-renovated solar-powered van and a NUS Overseas Colleges internship in New York. Two years after launching, the company has grown to 90 employees and deployed over 3,000 electric motorcycles across Southeast Asia, with its operations hub based in Bangkok.
2. Thailand EV Market Selection: ZQ chose Thailand over other Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia and Vietnam, due to the centralized market, strong motorcycle culture, and rapid adoption of new technologies making it an ideal entry point. ZQ highlighted the challenges of competing with established brands like Honda, which dominates 80% of the local market, and the importance of designing an affordable and reliable product to meet consumer demands. He also discussed the evolving EV ecosystem, emphasizing partnerships with local manufacturers, the role of CATL batteries, and the complexities of developing a standardized charging infrastructure.
3. Balancing Fatherhood & Entrepreneurship: ZQ reflected on the challenges of managing his dual roles as an entrepreneur and a father to his two-year-old daughter. He candidly shared the sacrifices his family has made, including long periods away from home and financial uncertainties. Despite the difficulties, ZQ emphasized that fatherhood has enhanced his leadership skills and emotional resilience, helping him grow personally and professionally. He also discussed his belief in allowing his child the freedom to choose her own path, supporting her dreams—whether entrepreneurial or otherwise.
They also discussed the role of ESG values in driving Sleek EV’s mission, challenges in scaling a hardware vs. software startups and the future of EV charging infrastructure for mass adoption.
[00:00:00] Jeremy Au: Hey, good to see you, ZQ. Hi, Jeremy. Thanks for having me.
Yeah, welcome to the studio where the magic happens.
[00:00:07] ZQ: Awesome. Very crazy setup here. You guys can see.
[00:00:10] Jeremy Au: Ah, no, it looks straightforward. I feel like I'm quite used to it now. It's what happens when you're like a nerd and you start having, the iteration cycle every month.
You're like, oh, I'm sure. Good excuse to go shopping. But ZQ tell us about yourself.
[00:00:24] ZQ: Okay. First of all, thank you so much for having me, Jeremy. I really admire your whole podcast. I've been following you for a while. So your whole podcast journey has been something that I feel, I felt like needed a lot of dedication and commitment.
So yeah, I'm excited to be here. Hi everybody. My name is Zhang Quan or you can call me ZQ or ZQ. I am the co founder and COO of Sleek EV. Sleek EV is one of the fastest growing electric motorcycle companies in Southeast Asia. We have now grown, over the past two years, we've grown to about 90 people, and we have put about more than 3, 000 bikes on the road.
And I've been in this industry for about five years now out of which the last two years I've spent building our operations HQ is in Bangkok. So I travel back and forth right now. I stationed mostly in Bangkok, but I come back during the weekends. And it's also because outside of work, I'm a father of one lovely daughter who is turning two soon.
So that's how I juggle my time.
[00:01:24] Jeremy Au: Amazing. And lots to get his dad. What were you like as a university student? Were you like a, rebellious entrepreneur type? Were you a nerdy person? Were you playful? What was the deal? What was your plan in university?
[00:01:36] ZQ: Not sure whether that's a question that I can answer for myself but definitely not the nerdy type.
Yeah, I am, I've never been the nerdy type of guy. So in university I've always. focus on more what's outside. Because in school I felt quite restricted, especially in university where most people are trying to get good grades. And so all the conversations around a university when I was in there is mostly okay, how do you beat the bell curve?
How do you do well in class? And it got quite boring for me. So I was looking more for outside of school professionally. What can I do? What can I look for? How can I improve myself? Or how can I apply what I learned in university outside? So yeah, I guess I was more of like the searching for opportunities, doing a lot of things outside of school and then Yeah, that kind of person.
[00:02:30] Jeremy Au: Yeah. And basically after that, you started, doing some work and, travel and so forth. So what was your early career decisions like?
[00:02:38] ZQ: So when I was in school, I was already Part timing outside. In university, I think on my second year or third year, I was in KLUK.
I joined KLUK when they first started in Singapore. And I went in as an intern and subsequently I managed to schedule all my classes to like Fridays So that I can work on Mondays to Thursdays Yeah, so so that was what happened. I went from an intern to more like a part time basis role. I was there for about one, more than a year, slightly more than a year, and I got an opportunity to go to this program called NUS Overseas Colleges or NOC in short.
So I went to, that opportunity brought me to New York for a year and over there is also a working experience. So I love it. I was in New York working with a very small startup, or actually we started the company when I was there it was three other co founders who were from Spotify, the early Spotify founders founding team who came to New York to set up the Spotify us kind of a branch.
And after they were done with their stint, they came out, they started doing their own stuff. And when I joined them, we built something new. Yeah. So it was one year over there. I learned a lot because it was very much bootstrapped and it was very heavily tech focus. It was three of them who are coders and me who are trying to do everything else like designing, marketing, growth, business, everything else.