What does a Taiwan-based e-scooter manufacturer have to teach the world about the battery business? A lot, apparently.

Founded in 2011, Gogoro launched its Gogoro Smartscooter in Taiwan in 2015, the same year it secured a $30 million investment from Taiwan’s National Development Fund and battery manufacturer Panasonic. By 2017, investments increased tenfold with $300 million in Series C investment money from Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management and Japan-based Sumitomo Corp.

Gogoro Smartscooters are powered by what the company calls the G1 Aluminum Liquid-Cooled Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor. Sensors throughout the cycle collect data such as battery level and consumption rate, available to riders via Gogoro mobile apps.

Swapping by subscription

Central to the company’s growth is what it calls the Gogoro Energy Network. Rather than plugging in a Smartscooter to recharge it, riders simply swap out depleted Li-ion batteries for fresh ones at a GoStation for a monthly subscription fee.

According to the company’s website, Gogoro surpassed 500,000 subscribers in Taiwan this past August and has enabled more than 325 million battery swaps, around 340,000 per day. In addition, the company supports 10 other two-wheel vehicle makers so they too can use GoStations for battery swapping (“Powered by Gogoro”), accounting for more than 92% of Taiwan’s electric two-wheel refueling.

Global notice

The rest of the world is taking notice:

Battery swapping for EVs?

While the Panasonic Li-Io cartridge 18650 battery is well-suited to the battery-swapping concept, the same can’t be said for the heavy, built-in batteries used in electric cars and trucks.

While some carmakers are considering bundled but easily detachable battery packs for delivery vans and light trucks, a recent article in The Economist noted that while battery-swapping ideas for cars do exist, most manufacturers foresee better-performing battery designs and an improved charging infrastructure as the eventual solution to charging speed challenges.