Taiwan based Kymco has introduced Ionex Recharge, which it claims is the world’s first personalised energy replenishing service, providing on-demand battery delivery and swapping for electric scooters and motorcycles.
Riders can have vehicle batteries swapped at a designated time and place without the riders being present.
Riders can also subscribe to an overnight battery swapping service and drive a fully-charged vehicle next morning.
“This personal service aims to make electric vehicles not only eco-friendly but also rider-friendly,” Kymco said in a statement.
As 120 countries have pledged to be net-zero by 2050, motorcycles and scooters are “poised to become the next global transformation in personal transportation”, Kymco reckons.
Start-ups and established brands alike are rushing to announce new electric models but the inconvenience of charging or swapping batteries swapped has made many hesitant about going electric.
In multi-unit residential buildings, electric outlets are usually not close to parking spaces and charging stations can be hard to find while charge time might be too long.
To eliminate the wait, battery swapping was introduced as an alternative to charging.
However, riders still have to make the effort to find either public charging stations or battery swapping stations, forcing them to go out of their way.
“We envision a world where recharging is only a button push away,” said Kymco chairman Allen Ko. “A fully charged vehicle is available whenever you need it, or even better, awaits you every morning. Energy replenishment is no longer an issue in our daily lives, and embracing electric vehicles has never been so easy. That is how we bring the world one step closer to net-zero.”
Personal service
Ionex Recharge is a personalised service which provides battery swapping. Riders provide the time and location via an app and the service crews swap the depleted batteries with fully charged as requested without requiring the riders’ presence. In addition, riders can subscribe to the service so their vehicles automatically receive a battery swap overnight.
Most Ionex Recharge charging facilities use green power.