Korean Gogoro electric scooter company says sharing autos flies in the face of private ownership. Because it challenges assumptions in the third world that private transport ownership is the mark of a successful person. Furthermore, developing countries will have more vehicles that developed ones in years to come. Gogoro has a simple explanation for this. People look at scooters as footwear. Because we want to own our shoes.
We Want to Own Our Shoes But Not the Batteries
Gogoro can see no purpose in riding scooters until the batteries are flat. Tesla thought the same. Except the task of replacing its bulky batteries on demand proved impractical. Scooter batteries are compact, and moreover quick to replace in easy-access storage bins.
This is an ideal solution for Taipei scooter riders zipping in and out of busy traffic. When their battery starts getting low, they find a battery swapping station and exchange it on the fly.
This Sound Ideal But Is This Really Practical
Gogoro has sold 30,000 electric scooters in Taiwan in 6 years. Moreover, it has 415 battery swapping stations that service 8,500 customers daily. We want to own our shoes AKA our scooters, but swapping batteries makes a deal of sense. Especially in cities where a 60-mile-range is not an issue.
Four noteworthy investment companies agree. They collectively invested $300 million in the cheeky Taiwan start-up on September 19, 2017.
Practical Things Make Gogoro Method Work
Gogoro scooter owners are members of an exclusive battery-swapping network. First, they exchange their depleted batteries on demand after payment of a fee. Then Gogoro monitors activity at all 415 stations online. So it knows when it is time to deliver new inventory.
The company is negotiating with alternative energy suppliers to repurpose its aging batteries. Because it hopes to use them for electricity storage in office buildings later. It visualizes its battery-swapping structure expanding into commercial vehicles, as soon as battery trends develop to this point.
Related
E-Bike Shops Canada: Amego Electric Vehicles
Preview Image: Scooters Meet