Alibaba-backed bicycle-sharing company Hello Chuxing has invested RMB 1 billion (USD 144.5 million) with Alipay and CATL to form a battery-sharing business for electric scooter users, 36Kr reports.
Each of the three companies will bring their own expertise to the table: Hello Chuxing is in charge of business operations; CATL, China’s largest battery manufacturer, will provide the charging technology; while Alipay is responsible for user growth and online conversions.
The plan is to set up electric scooter battery stalls in locations across a city, and then let users rent these batteries for their scooters by scanning on the QR code.
Hello Chuxing’s CEO, Yang Lei, will head the new company. He estimates 350 million electric scooters are on the road in China currently, with 40 million vehicles sold annually.
Also, taking a page from Hello Chuxing’s bicycle-sharing playbook, the electric scooter battery-sharing business will focus initially on China’s second- and third-tier cities.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.