Electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) plans to invest NT$5.8 billion (US$188.21 million) this year to expand its network of battery-swap stations and build a new battery assembly line to cope with rising demand with new electric scooters from its partners to go on sale from the third quarter, the company said on Wednesday.
The new two-wheelers would be equipped with Gogoro batteries and owners would be given access to Gogoro’s battery-swap stations, dubbed GoStations, the Taoyuan-based company said.
Gogoro last year formed strategic partnerships with local gasoline-powered scooter makers Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力) — which sells motorcycles under the PGO brand — and Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰), as well as Yamaha Motor Co of Japan, to supply its green-energy solutions.
The collaboration with Yamaha involves Gogoro’s development and manufacture of electric scooters for the Japanese firm, and sharing its battery-swap system in Taiwan. The first Yamaha electric scooters are to reach local stores in the third quarter.
With more traditional scooter vendors making inroads in the electric vehicle market, sales of electric scooters this year are expected to double to 150,000 units, Gogoro said, citing estimates from its partners.
Last year, 86,002 electric scooters were sold in Taiwan, up 89 percent from 45,510 in 2017, statistics compiled by the Environmental Protection Administration showed.
Gogoro said it plans to boost the number of GoStations to 1,500 by the end of this year from 1,000 currently.
It also plans to begin production at its third Robofab line in Taoyuan to produce 21700-type lithium-ion cells, which have 27 percent more capacity than batteries it uses now, improving scooter range to 170km from 100km, comparable to the range of a gasoline-powered scooter, Gogoro said.
About 2,200 distributors of traditional scooters plan to switch to electric scooters and offer maintenance services, Gogoro said.
The company has secured a syndicated loan of NT$7.2 billion to fund GoStation deployments and the new production line, it said.
That would bring the company’s total investments in Taiwan to NT$17.4 billion, it said.
Gogoro, which has an 85 percent share of the nation’s electric scooter market, had sold 145,000 electric scooters as of Sunday.
It is seeking deals with local automobile and scooter companies to enter the NT$700 billion electric vehicle market in Southeast Asia, including India and Vietnam, it said.
While the company collaborates with Panasonic Corp in battery design, Gogoro components are sourced from 192 local suppliers, it said.
Gogoro is also working with a local firm to develop new batteries, it said.
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