German company Swobbee is the world’s first cross-manufacturer battery swap station with a multimodal approach for the entire micromobility sector. We spoke to co-founder and CEO Thomas Duscha on how Swobbee is incorporating the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model in the micromobility sector.
Can you tell us a bit about the company and its founders?
The company was founded in 2017 by the multi-entrepreneur Dr Christian Speidel, as well as micromobility-experts Tobias Breyer and myself, Thomas Duscha. As a leading BaaS provider, Swobbee GmbH assists companies in the field of micromobility to implement efficient and sustainable energy infrastructure solutions.
How does your solution contribute to the Digitalisation and Decarbonisation of the energy sector?
Swobbee’s mission is to contribute to the energy and mobility transition by establishing a mobile and sustainable energy network. In addition to comprehensive BaaS solutions, Swobbee’s Battery Swapping System (BSS) is the world’s first non-captive battery sharing system with an intermodal concept for micromobility. This enables business and local partners to deploy numerous electromobility solutions, such as e-cargo bikes, electric scooters, electric kick-scooters and landscaping machines, in a risk-free, cost-effective fashion.
What is your company’s proudest achievement to date?
We are very happy to see that our solution is convincing the most important companies in the field of city logistics and sharing. As micromobility is a booming sector, we are looking forward to many more interesting partnerships in the near future.
What specifically attracts you about the prospect of expanding to the Japanese market?
Japan is a fascinating market. Regarding the introduction and implementation of new technologies, Japan is often several years ahead of Europe. People seem to be more open to new technologies.
How will your solution/product help advance the Japanese energy sector?
Regarding the eco-balance of small electric vehicles like e-scooter and e-bikes, swappable batteries are a huge improvement. However, collecting batteries to charge them in a central warehouse is both ecologically and economically challenging for fleet operators. The solution is BaaS and Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS). Swobbee offers fleet operators both unique BaaS- and CaaS models.