LG Energy Solution said Monday that it has become the first company to be eligible for the Korean government’s subsidy program for battery swapping stations, or BSS, as the company looks to lead the growth of the electric bike market.
According to LG Energy Solution, it has received the state certification for its BSS and swappable battery packs for electric bicycles. The company said it expects to benefit from the subsidies that the Korean government has been pushing to increase the penetration of electric bikes and expand the battery subscription service market.
“The inefficiency, which was caused by different standards and products among producers in the swappable battery market for electric bikes, has been pointed out as a deep-seated problem to hinder the market growth so far,” said an LG Energy Solution official.
“By obtaining the requirement for the national standard as the first company in Korea, we are able to upgrade our competitiveness in the standardized market that the government is pushing for.”
The battery maker underlined that electric bikes have come under the spotlight as an alternative to countermeasure air pollution and noises caused by an increase in the number of gas-fueled bikes on the road during the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the expansion of delivery culture.
The data from the Korea Electric Two-wheeled Vehicle Association showed that there were about 2.2 bikes registered in the country as of last year with some 110,000 units newly registered last year alone.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the number of electric bikes with swappable batteries more than doubled to 3,429 units last year. There are 1,872 charging facilities for electric bikes nationwide. The ministry announced earlier this year that it would offer 16 billion won ($11 million) in subsidies to boost the supply of electric bikes to 20,000 units and 5 billion won to help set up 500 charging facilities.
KooRoo, LG Energy Solution's swappable battery station brand, currently operates 440 charging and swapping sites across the country.
By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)
