Gogoro scooters with battery-swapping tech slated for Q4 2023 commercial PH rollout

MANILA: Gogoro, a Taiwanese brand of electric scooters featuring battery-swapping capability, announced that it will be commercially available locally in the fourth quarter of the year.

Battery-changing sites called GoStation, in which Gogoro riders may instantly swap depleted batteries for fully charged ones, will be rolled out across the country as part of the brand's partnership with the Ayala Corporation-led Globe 917Ventures.

Per the companies’ executives, swapping the scooters’ batteries is quicker than charging them, which then offers more convenience to riders.

Before they are made available to the public, the Gogoro bikes and service will be tested by 70 volunteer Globe employees for two months under the Globe Employee Pilot program, Managing Director of 917Ventures Vince Yamat announced during the Gogoro’s press launch.

917Ventures and Gogoro executives eye to establish GoStations in Metro Manila business districts first. For his part, Chairman and CEO of Gogoro Horace Luke refused to disclose official prices but did claim the scooters will be priced according to the public’s budgets.

With a fully-charged battery, Gogoro scooters can travel at an estimated range of more than 170 kilometers, Luke said. The scooter will also come with various equipment such as Auto Handle Lock, Traction Control, Wet Road driving mode, Side Stand Safety off, Tire Pressure Monitoring, Emergency Stop Flash, Over Speed Alert, and Turn Signal Reset.

Gogoro creates its own brand of electric scooters and provides partnerships in the automotive industry with its own vehicle innovations. The company is also known for its battery-swapping platforms.

In Taiwan, Gogoro currently has over 11,000 battery swapping stations at more than 2,260 locations. With over 1 million batteries in circulation the number of GoStations has already surpassed the number of gas stations in Taiwan’s major cities, a release stated. The Gogoro Network has more than 520,000 riders that perform more than 370,000 battery swaps per day.

Photos from Dylan Afuang

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