'Public Phone Booth → Charging Station' Seoul City to Install 1,000 Locations by 2025

Converting Old Public Phone Booths into Electric Motorcycle Charging Stations... Expansion of Delivery Electric Motorcycles
Fully Charged Batteries Can Be Replaced Immediately... Solving Charging Time and Driving Range Issues of Electric Motorcycles

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 21st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will convert old public phone booths into electric motorcycle battery exchange charging stations, where discharged batteries of electric motorcycles can be swapped for fully charged ones, improving charging convenience for users.

Delivery motorcycles travel 5 to 6 times longer distances than regular motorcycles, emitting large amounts of air pollutants and causing significant noise in residential areas. The city plans to replace all 35,000 dedicated delivery motorcycles with electric motorcycles by 2025.

Electric motorcycles have a long charging time (4 to 6 hours) and a driving range of about 50 km per charge, which limits their use for delivery purposes that require more than 150 km of daily operation. Installing electric motorcycle battery exchange charging stations, which allow easy battery swapping, is expected to drastically reduce charging time.

Seoul plans to prioritize installation in areas with high delivery demand such as Gangnam and neighborhoods with a high concentration of single-person households this year. Last month, 30 units were installed in Guro-gu, Dongjak-gu, and Songpa-gu, and an additional 30 units will be installed by the end of this month. The 150 units being installed this time are in cooperation with DNA Motors-KT Linkers, and the city also plans to install 100 electric motorcycle charging stations at convenience stores in Gangnam in partnership with LG Energy Solution, aiming to install a total of 500 various types of charging stations this year.

Users can sign up and purchase charging products through the D-STATION app (search for 디스테이션 or D-STATION in the app store) on their smartphones. Small business owners in Seoul can use unlimited mileage products at a 30% discount for three months by providing business verification.

Kim Jeong-seon, Director of the Climate Change Response Division, said, “Old public phone booths have been transformed into electric motorcycle charging stations, improving urban aesthetics and solving charging issues for delivery electric motorcycles. We will do our best to replace 100% of dedicated delivery motorcycles with electric motorcycles by 2025.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.