Gogoro, a leading name in electric mobility from Taiwan, has formally launched in India with a multifaceted business strategy. Gogoro manufactures both electric scooters as well as battery swapping technology solutions , both of which it plans to gradually roll out in the Indian market.
Gogoro has teamed with Zypp Electric in India, a last-mile logistics business located in Gurgaon that uses electric vehicles to cut down on carbon emissions. Both businesses will launch with a trial program that will be implemented in Gurugram, Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Bengaluru. According to Gogoro representatives, the B2B e-scooter would have about the same power as a typical 110cc scooter, and operations should start in Delhi as early as December 2022.
Let's look at things in a little more detail. Zypp has plans of increasing the number of e-scooters in its fleet from 7,000 to a staggering 200,000 over the course of the next two years. Additionally, at that time, its network will grow from six to fifteen cities. Gogoro will be Zypp's mobility partner in addition to supplying the infrastructure needed for this operation's charging, which mostly consists of battery swapping stations. In Taiwan, Gogoro has proven its practicality and adaptability as evidenced by its rapid expansion in just a couple of years.
The charging stations themselves are modular in design, allowing them to be adjusted to fit the available area. According to the brand, there are more Gogoro swapping stations in Taiwan than there are gas stations. It also says that the average time for a change is six seconds, which is substantially less time than it takes to refuel a two-wheeler. Each device uses the grid for electricity to charge recently swapped out batteries, but is also capable of self-sustaining for up to 64 hours. Even if this is a big promise, it should be quite helpful in India as power shortages are a common problem there.
Additionally, using the B2B approach to launch operations would allow both Zypp and Gogoro to thoroughly evaluate their battery-swapping technology. Battery swapping services have been repeatedly shown to be more financially viable in densely populated countries such as India, since not everyone has access to a home charging system. In addition, Gogoro will be able to apply the lessons it has learned from its B2B program to its consumer e-scooters, which may one day be released to the Indian market.
