Two Malaysian companies working together on battery-swapping technology.
Just recently there was good news for the Malaysian electric vehicle segment when Ni Hsin EV Tech Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Main Market-listed Ni Hsin Group Berhad (“Ni Hsin“), entered into a Heads of Agreement (“HOA”) with MNA Energy Sdn Bhd (“MNAE”) to develop battery technology for electric motorcycles which includes battery-swapping.
MNAE was established in 2016 and has been awarded research grants by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) for the development of next-generation battery technology.
Right now, MNAE produces battery energy storage systems for electric mobility and stationary applications such as telecommunications towers and solar energy farms.
It is pioneering Electric Mobility-as-a-Service (EMaaS) in Malaysia, by developing SmartSwap – a game-changing turnkey solution for a battery-swapping infrastructure for Electric Motorcycles.
Khoo Chee Kong, Managing Director of Ni Hsin EV Tech Sdn Bhd, said: “We see EV Two Wheelers leading the adoption of alternative power sources that can reduce carbon footprint and transition towards a greener economy.
We are developing, in collaboration with MNAE, an advanced battery system and a standardized battery-swapping infrastructure for EV Two Wheelers that will be convenient to riders who can easily swap their depleted batteries with fully-charged ones at stations that we are setting up.
The collaboration with MNAE complements their venture into the e-mobility business and there is a collaboration with Dongguan Tailing Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd.
We are now working towards getting the Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) permit from the Road Transport Department for these EV Two Wheelers as the VTA is important for MNAE’s SmartSwap programme”.
The battery-swapping system developed by MNAE will feature battery tracking and management via cloud-connected network through which the battery’s lifespan can be monitored.
The system can be compared to the one launched by Gogoro, the Taiwanese battery-swapping refueling platform for urban EV Two Wheelers.
Taiwan is a market leader for electric motorcycles and they already have a mature battery-swapping system running across the island. Users have already commented on the shortfalls of the initial system and after some improvements over the last few years, the system is now running smoothly and so when it arrives in Malaysia, there should be no issues.
This is also in line with Malaysia’s drive to encourage electric vehicle ownership and development of related infrastructure in the country which is moving swiftly ahead after the MITI Minister recently announced the governments EV plans.
