The Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) has commenced its electric motorcycle battery swapping systems project. Starting tomorrow, December 10, 2024, the EV bike demonstration runs for a duration of two months, until February 9, 2025.

This project is aimed at assessing the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of implementing battery swapping technology to accelerate the growth of electric motorcycles in Malaysia, according to the firm. The electric motorcycle battery swapping demonstration run will cover the Klang Valley during the aforementioned duration, and will engage medium- and high mileage motorcycle users.

A total of 40 electric motorcycles will be deployed for this purpose, consisting of two models – the Blueshark R1 Lite, and the RydeEV Hyper, the tally consisting of an equal split of 20 units of each model. These have a range of between 100 km to 110 km, and a maximum speed of between 80 km/h and 90 km/h.

This trial will be facilitated by the battery swapping networks of Blueshark and Oyika, for a total of 29 EV bike battery swapping stations located at petrol stations, convenience stores and shopping malls across the Klang Valley.

Participants in this demonstration run are comprised of five organisations – Majlis Bandar Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), Zalora Malaysia, SPX Express, Foodpanda and Ions Technology. Among the participating organisations, the allocation is five units for MBPJ, three units for Ions Technology, 10 units for SPX Express, 10 units for Foodpanda and 12 units for Zalora.

Data gathering will be integral to the EV bike battery swapping trial, which is to acquire information such as the range covered by the electric motorcycles per charge, speeds attained, as well as battery performance parameters including battery charge times, and charge retention.

This will also assess the performance and feasibility of EV motorcycle battery swapping infrastructure, for aspects such as convenience, distance between battery swap stations, and total battery swaps conducted during this trial.

Data logging from the EV bikes used in this trial will be through hardware and software by Blueshark and RydeEV for their respective bikes, and data will be downloaded from each participating machine at the end of each month of the trial. In addition to data logging, the trial will also compile feedback from the EV bike users at the end of the programme.

According to MGTC group CEO Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, electric motorcycles, even with battery swapping services, faces obstacles in terms of rider acceptance due to limited stations which restrict access and range, and high initial infrastrcture costs for operators.

“In light of this, we created this demonstration to assess the viability, advantages, and difficulties of switching to electric bikes in Malaysia. We evaluate technological and financial feasibility, examine consumer and market needs, and develop strategic solutions for long-term scalability,” Shamsul said.

Source: Paul Tan