The Scooter That Could Be the Future of Electric Vehicles

Gogoro - Gephardt Daily

The Scooter That Could Be the Future of Electric Vehicles

Gogoro - Gephardt Daily

Image: Gogoro

Electric vehicles may be getting more mainstream, but the logistics of the recharging process make them impractical for many, even in larger cities.
 
Energy startup Gogoro aims to solve this problem by creating a system that allows people to quickly swap their electric vehicle’s batteries rather than waiting to recharge. The company unveiled its plan for a network of high-performance electric smart scooters and portable battery stations Monday at CES in Las Vegas.[one_fourth]

[/one_fourth][three_fourth_last]

The company, which has been quietly working on its plans for connected cities since 2011, hopes its scooter will kickstart a bigger shift in how people use electric vehicles.

“The whole idea is no longer to charge,” Gogoro CEO Horace Luke told Mashable. “Look at what the double a battery did to the consumer electronic industry, this is what we’re trying to do [for the electric vehicle industry].”

The network is comprised of an electric battery-powered scooter and a battery network that places recharging stations around cities. Those who buy a smart scooter will also have a subscription to the battery service, which allows for unlimited battery swapping within a given city.

The 9 kg batteries, stored in a compartment under the seat, can be swapped and replaced within seconds.

Scooter owners will also be able to use an accompanying app, allowing data collected by the scooter’s sensors to be tracked (including battery levels, parking location and energy use). The app also lets you customize parts of the scooter, like the color of the dashboard lights

The smart scooter’s specs are comparable to other scooters, topping out at 95 km/hr (about 60 mph) and has a range of about 60 km (37 miles). The goal, Luke says, is to place enough of Gogoro’s modular battery stations around cities so that owners will always be able to reach a station and swap out batteries before they run out of juice.

The company says it will begin rolling out its network and smart scooter in select cities this year, though it could eventually offer other types of vehicles that use the same battery infrastructure.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here