Taiwan’s Gogoro targets Q4 commercial launch in PHL
Gogoro, a Taiwanese company, introduced its smart electric scooters and first battery swapping station for pilot testing in Metro Manila on Monday, with the goal of promoting sustainable transport systems in the Philippines.
The two-month pilot program will begin in May for 70 volunteers from Globe Telecom, Inc., with the commercial launch following in the fourth quarter (Q4).
The first Gogoro battery swapping station in the country is located outside the Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Gogoro has partnered with Ayala Corp. and Globe group’s 917Ventures to deliver “another innovation [the people] do not know they need yet,” according to Ernest L. Cu, president and chief executive officer of Globe.
Gogoro’s set of two-wheel battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fast six-second battery-swapping GoStations aim to address the traffic congestion in the capital region, as well as the problem of increasing gasoline prices and carbon pollution.
Manila ranked 58th out of 60 cities in the 2022 Urban Mobility Readiness Index of the OliverWyman Forum and University of California Berkeley.
Manila was also ranked 48th out of 60 in sustainable mobility, with motorized vehicles expected to remain the most popular mode of transportation in the city, resulting in sustainable mobility being deemed less of a priority.
Patrick T. Aquino, director at the Energy Utilization Management Bureau of the Department of Energy (DoE), noted the similar thrusts of Gogoro and the Energy department in upholding e-mobility and renewable energy.
“The biggest number that we are aiming to electrify… [goes to] our two wheelers,” Mr. Aquino said.
As a business-as-usual short-term goal, the DoE aims to have 164,900 two-wheeler BEVs by 2028.
Seven battery swap GoStations will be initially built across the immediate central business districts in Metro Manila upon launch in the fourth quarter of this year, said Bernard P. Llamzon, director of Globe Capital Venture Holdings, Inc.
Gogoro Smartscooters support a variety of features boosting security and ease of use for consumers, such as digital traction control, smart wet mode, turn signal reset, and biometric unlock, among others.
Ride specifications of the Smartscooter include getting from zero to 50 kilometers per hour in 3.7 seconds, also a range of over 170 kilometers per battery swap.
No specific price range was disclosed at the launch event.
“We’re working to bring the two-wheeler into this market in a wide portfolio price range… We have a price range to satisfy, I believe, all Filipinos… I think it’s going to be amazingly affordable,” said Horace Luke, co-founder and chief executive officer of Gogoro.
Pre-orders will be available before commercial operations in the fourth quarter. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola
