Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽), the nation’s biggest maker of gasoline-powered motorcycles, yesterday said it is expanding its electric battery network across the nation, seeking to boost the number of battery-swapping stations to more than 2,000 by the end of the year.
Over the past year, Kwang Yang has spent about NT$1 billion (US$32.86 million) to expand its network of Ionex battery-swapping stations to attract riders to switch to its electric scooters.
The company operates 1,533 stations, with 1,098 of them in the nation’s six most populous cities, quickly catching up with local rival Gogoro Inc’s (睿能創意) 2,240 stations.
Photo: Amy Yang, Taipei Times
As a latecomer to the electric scooter market, Kwang Yang adopted a different strategy in deploying battery-swapping kiosks than Gogoro. The company installs smaller cabinets with five batteries available on the sides of buildings in bustling areas. It also has larger cabinets at convenience stores, shopping malls and fuel stations.
Gogoro’s GoStations and Super GoStations are much larger with more slots for batteries. The firm has attracted more than 500,000 battery swap subscribers in Taiwan since launching the service in 2015.
“Electrification is a global trend. We have to adapt to it,” Kwang Yang chief executive officer Ko Chun-ping (柯俊斌) told reporters in Taipei.
Taiwan plans to ban two-wheeled gasoline-engine vehicles in 2040, which is part of the nation’s broader effort to cut carbon emissions.
Electric scooters sales rose 2 percent annually last month to 7,436 units, data compiled by market researcher U-Car showed, with Gogoro continuing to dominate the market.
Kwang Yang is looking to persuade distributors of its KYMCO gasoline scooters to switch to the brand’s electric versions and install battery kiosks, Ko said.
Some of the 3,500 distributors have already made the switch, he said.
With more travelers expected as the government eases COVID-19 travel restrictions, Kwang Yang said it aims to expand its battery swapping network to rural areas with more locations between Nantou County’s Wuling (武嶺) and Hualien County’s Cisingtan Scenic Area (七星潭海岸風景區), hoping to install its battery kiosks there before Gogoro.
Kwang Yang said it also plans to deploy battery cabinets from the downtown area of Chiayi City to Alishan (阿里山), and increase the number of battery kiosks in Siaoliouciou (小琉球) and Kinmen County.
Its electric scooters are now available in more locations overseas, including Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, with scooters soon to go on sale in Italy, Ko said.
However, all of those scooters are equipped with batteries designed to be charged at home, as it would not be economical to deploy battery-swapping networks in countries with lower population density, he said.
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