KYMCO, FELO and SUPER SOCO sign a strategic agreement on electric motorcycle technology and building the Ionex battery swapping network.

KYMCO, FELO and SUPER SOCO will cooperate on many aspects of development – Brand, technology, electric drive, and building the Ionex battery swapping network.

Kymco, FELO and Super Soco came together on 20th of May, in the headquarters of Kymco based in Changzhou, to sign a strategic alliance with the purpose of accelerating the expansion to global markets with electric motorcycles, and building the Ionex network for swappable battery systems. 

FELO and Kymco started this partnership two years ago, and now with the addition of Super Soco, which has been a top seller more globally and particularly in the UK. The Cooperation marks the founding of the Ionex battery swapping system. 

Kymco had recently unveiled both their RevoNex performance motorcycle, to be produced in Italy, as well as the F9 electric scooter. Super Soco already dominates sales in the UK with the CPx scooter ranking number one seller this year to date, with a strong offering of models like the TC Wanderer (new gen TC model) and the CUmini.

FELO Design is the R&D branch of Hiyeetong – a China based performance vehicles company – That later became FELO Technology, focusing on performance motorcycles. Since 2019, FELO Technology entered the electric high-performance motorcycle field to launch its own brand. Securing their investment from Kymco’s Treasury capital, the two companies then launched their electric products, KYMCO’s F9 in Taipei and FELO’s FW-06 in Shanghai.

FELO and KYMCO will work together in virtually all areas of technology, from product development, the ionex network, brand collaboration and OEM. The companies plan to cooperate on the creation of electric drive, controller modules, battery modules and all the way through to new energy and new technology.

Showing a strong positioning to innovate and lead the development of the electric vehicle industry, the companies will share knowledge and technological advances to further base their advantages.

The Ionex will be available with two new models released at the Beijing International Motorcycle Exhibition on 28th May, 2021. While  FELO products will be manufactured through Kymco, Changzhou, and will be available on the market later this year. Kymco will provide customers with their know how for high quality vehicles and more than half a century of high quality manufacturing experience.

This begs the question, what type of competing standards will we see from different cooperations like these. In recent months, announcements by Honda, Yamaha, KTM and  Piaggio for their consortium for swappable batteries, other announcements by Gogoro – that already operates the largest battery swapping network in Taiwan, and partnered with both DCJ and Yadea in China, as well as Hero motoCorp, the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in India.

To some this may sound like an annoyance, as we may start seeing further cooperation that will lead to different standards for battery sizes, capacities, and more. But to be honest, similarly to traditional OEMs, manufectureres can provide riders with swapping options, charging station infrastructure just as much as they would traditionally setup service centers and part services. 

The rider can still get to choose, according to the standards offered in his country and area. And let’s not forget that swapping is not the only way to go, as we continue to see progress with charging times and their reduction, this could spell a different path for swappable batteries. Energica’s models can charge up in 45 minutes all the way up to 80% in under 25 minutes, and they carry a battery capacity of 14.4kWh.

What’s clear to us, is that real progress is made towards a comfort of use, and  rider service that will come to eliminate the range issue, if you still have any such issue, with electric drive.

Source: FELO Technology (Hiyeetong)