Introduction: Some operators lock the upper-tier compartment doors of battery swap cabinets and use only the lower tier. Kick-to-Swap came from this action.

1. Why did Daochong develop Kick-to-Swap?

First, a real action once taken by an operator: lock the compartment doors on the upper tier of the battery swap cabinet and open only the lower tier.

The reason, once asked, is very practical. In the area where he operates, female riders make up a relatively high proportion, and the batteries used in food delivery battery swap cabinets generally weigh five to eight kilograms — lifting such a battery to an upper-tier compartment to take it out or put it in is not just strenuous for female riders: if it is not held steady at height and the battery falls, it hits the person standing in front of the cabinet.

Locking the doors locks out this risk. But the cost is also clear: the site's space, power facilities, and daily maintenance are all invested in the whole cabinet. Once the upper-tier compartments are locked, half of the available compartments are lost, and battery turnover, already tight during peak hours, is reduced by another notch.

If riders get safety, some compartments cannot be used; if all compartments are used, taking out and putting in carries risk. This dilemma cannot be solved by operators tinkering with the cabinet themselves. Daochong developed Kick-to-Swap to solve it by making it a product.

2. What is Kick-to-Swap?

At the lower part of the Daochong battery swap cabinet body, there is a kick button. The rider gives it a light kick, and the system automatically assigns a lower-tier compartment — the compartment door opens, the battery is taken out or put in, the compartment is closed, and the swap is complete. This feature is called Kick-to-Swap. It was released in May 2026 and was the first in the industry to launch it.

Three steps per swap: kick open the compartment, take out and put in the battery from the lower tier, close the compartment and go. Holding a food delivery box, holding an umbrella, or wearing gloves in winter does not affect opening the compartment, and the whole process does not require a phone.

It coexists with tap-to-swap and scan-to-swap: the upper part of the cabinet has buttons, the lower part has a kick button, and scanning also works. With several methods on one cabinet, riders choose according to the situation on site.

3. What locations is Kick-to-Swap suitable for?

First, the conclusion: it is not picky about locations. At any location where riders swap batteries, the process of kicking once and opening a lower-tier compartment works.

The most direct value is for three types of locations:

  • Locations with a high proportion of female riders and large differences in rider height. Batteries weighing five to eight kilograms no longer need to be lifted to a high place. Taking them out and putting them in is less strenuous and carries less risk — this is the starting point for the design of this feature.
  • Locations where riders swap batteries frequently. Taking out and putting in batteries is repeated dozens of times a day. The effort saved on each order adds up in riders' impressions of the location.

4. What benefits does Kick-to-Swap bring to operations?

Can serve a fuller range of riders. Locations no longer make some riders feel awkward because "taking out and putting in from the upper tier is strenuous," and when choosing sites, there is no need to worry an extra layer about the composition of the rider group.

One more concrete point of difference in homogeneous competition. Product homogeneity in the battery swap industry is obvious. The differences between cabinets from different brands in core parameters are not large. Where riders swap batteries increasingly depends on "which one is easier and safer to use." Riders who use it smoothly are the ones who stay as the operator's users.

5. Summary

The starting point of Kick-to-Swap is the operator's real practice of "locking the upper-tier compartment doors" — some would rather use only half the compartments than let riders swap unsafely. The product team saw this dilemma in frontline conversations and turned it into a product: taking out and putting in happens at the lower tier, triggering is done with the foot, and locking doors is no longer necessary.

To learn about the battery swap methods and cabinet configurations of Daochong battery swap cabinets, visit the official website www.dochion.com。