Electric scooter vendor Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) said it plans to install 100 charging stations at local stores, including coffee shops and bookstores, by the end of this year to help boost sales.
The Taoyuan-based company has sold more than 10,000 scooters in Taiwan since its launch in summer last year.
On Thursday, Gogoro said it picked Taichung to install the company’s first mini battery-charging station.
The company plans to complete installation of 21 charging stations by today at 21 shops in Taichung, including CMYK Gallery, Fukurou Living and Mojo Coffee, it said in a statement.
Taiwan FamilyMart Co’s (全家便利商店) convenience stores and Louisa Coffee chain stores will also join the company’s energy-sharing project, which encourages individuals and businesses to install charging devices, Gogoro said.
Gogoro riders can find recharged batteries at 225 swap stations in Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung and Changhua.
Meanwhile, the company is also pushing its first overseas expansion plan. The company early this month said it is teaming up with Bosch Co to offer electric scooter sharing services with Coup, as subsidiary of Bosch, in Berlin.
In the initial phase, the service will offer 200 scooters in the Berlin Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg neighborhoods, Gogoro said.
The service will be available for a flat rate of 3 euros (US$3.40) for 30 minutes, or 20 euros for a day, the company said.
“Launching the Gogoro smart scooter in Berlin as our first expansion market is special because it is a great two-wheel city and is also one of the most sophisticated, progressive and creative cities in the world,” Gogoro co-founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke (陸學森) said in the statement.
“The European market for electric motorcycles and scooters is still in its infancy, yet European consumers are clamoring for more sustainable and innovative two-wheel options like what Gogoro is offering with Coup in Berlin today,” Luke said.
He said the company has been approached by many scooter sharing service providers from around the world over the past year and it found that that Bosch and Coup had the potential to be a market maker for scooter sharing in Europe.
VALUABLE STOCK: The company closed at NT$1,005 a share, on demand for AI and HPC chips, and is expected to issue a positive report during its earnings conference Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares rose 2.66 percent to close at a record high of NT$1,005 yesterday. as investors expect the company to continue benefiting from strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. TSMC is the 19th member of the local bourse’s NT$1,000 stock club, which includes smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and electric transformer manufacturer Fortune Electric Co (華城電機). Yesterday’s rally swelled TSMC’s market capitalization to NT$26.06 trillion (US$802.3 billion) and contributed about 211 points to the TAIEX, which closed up 350.1 points, or 1.51 percent, to 23,522.53, another record high, Taiwan Stock
Luxgen Motor Co (納智捷汽車), a subsidiary of Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車), yesterday said it is again offering a NT$100,000 discount for its entry-level n7 electric vehicle models. The n7’s price has gone down from NT$1.099 million to NT$999,000, Luxgen said, adding that there are 25,000 preorders for the model. MG Motor’s electric hatchback, the MG4, entered the market in the middle of last month, with a starting price of NT$990,000. China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes MG vehicles in Taiwan, said it aims to sell 1,600 MG4s this year. MG, originally a British brand, was acquired by China’s SAIC Motor
Google on Monday said it is planning to invest in New Green Power Co (NGP, 永鑫能源), a solar energy developer owned by BlackRock Inc, to build 1 gigawatt of solar capacity in Taiwan to supply clean energy for its local data center and offices. “Our investment in NGP, subject to regulatory approval, will serve as development capital toward its 1 GW pipeline of new solar projects, catalyzing critical equity and debt financing for those projects,” Google’s Data Center Energy global head Amanda Peterson Corio wrote on a company blog. It did not disclose financial details. “We expect to procure up to 300 megawatts
‘MORE PRACTICAL’: If the cap were lowered, it would spark an influx of funds that would be difficult to track as insurance firms adjust to the new rules, an official said Overseas investment would remain capped at 45 percent of local insurers’ total assets, as there are scant investment tools at home and potentially significant losses from sudden divestments, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said yesterday. The commission’s comments came in response to a legislator’s concern over the effect of a proposed revision to the Insurance Act (保險法) to lower the upper limit to 25 percent. The revision was proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才). The proposed 25 percent cap is even lower than the 35 percent implemented before 2007. About 17 years ago, the legislature raised the upper limit