Earlier this week, Blueshark made its debut in Malaysia with the launch of the R1 electric scooter. The company is known for its swappable battery technology, and it has set up a small number of stations in the Klang Valley for owners to do so.
The bike itself is priced at RM7,190 for the R1 Lite and RM9,390 for the regular R1 (not including the battery rental, which costs RM79 a month). The more expensive model comes with extra features such as a 10.4-inch full-colour instrument display, Bluetooth connectivity, loudspeakers, a front dash cam, rear ultrasonic sensors and even a reverse camera.
There are no mechanical differences; all R1s get a single electric motor producing 5kW (6.7hp) and a healthy 201Nm of torque. As such, they will get from zero to 50km/h in 4.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 80km/h. The dual batteries, which have a battery capacity of 2.88kWh, provide a claimed NEDC range of 110km/h and can be charged to full in 3.5 hours.
The real beauty of the R1 is that you can simply head over to a BlueStation to swap your flat batteries for fully charged ones, but that will require a separate subscription that costs between RM59 to RM139 a month. There are also only four such stations at Petronas Batu Tiga, Seksyen 13 in Shah Alam, USJ 6 and Desa Mentari, although there are plans to grown the network exponentially in the near future. Watch the video below to know more.
