KooRoo to launch e-bike battery swapping stations in Q1

[Courtesy of KooRoo]

KooRoo, a company-in-company (CIC) under South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, is set to officially launch its battery swapping station (BSS) business for e-bikes in the first quarter of 2024.

According to industry sources on Wednesday, KooRoo is gearing up to expand its pilot BSS program into full-scale operations by the end of March. A BSS is a facility where batteries in electric vehicles and e-bikes can be replaced with other batteries instead of being charged. This service allows users to replace dead e-bike batteries with fully charged ones in under 20 seconds. To ensure users can swiftly exchange batteries without any wait time, KooRoo installed battery swapping stations in convenience stores and supermarkets.

KooRoo has priced its battery service pass at 45,000 won ($33.5) for a 50-use and a monthly unlimited pass for 150,000 won. The company is conducting a pilot program with selected delivery riders and is offering a discounted early bird price of 99,000 won for the monthly unlimited pass.

KooRoo has been promoting its service since October 2023 by running a joint test group with Woowa Brothers Corp. which operates food delivery app Baedal Minjok, and two-wheeler management solutions company on:us.

KooRoo has already installed 140 battery stations south of the Han River in Seoul. The company plans to expand this network to 400 stations within the capital city by the end of 2024 and aims to have 1,000 stations across the metropolitan area by 2025.

KooRoo recently unveiled a marketing campaign featuring a promotional video with popular rapper DinDin introducing the KooRoo service. The video highlights the advantage of KooRoo’s battery stations being spaced an average distance of 1 km apart and emphasizes the convenience of using the KooRoo mobile application, which is integrated with navigation systems, allowing users to easily schedule battery exchanges.