Gogoro, a top electric scooter manufacturer based out of Taiwan announced its partnership with Hero to target the Indian market. Rechargeable batteries made by the company now account for nearly a quarter of monthly sales in Taiwan. After this huge success, the company is now starting to expand to other countries.
Known for its batteries, the company will now share its battery infrastructure with its new Indian partner, Hero. In the world’s largest two-wheeler market, they will build battery swapping platforms in the country in a joint venture with Hero.
“We will set up a joint venture between the two companies to bring Gogoro’s swapping technology into India and set up swapping infrastructure across the country, and then we will take it to the rest of the world,” said Pawan Munjal, chairman Hero, and Horace Luke, Gogoro founder and CEO in a joint interview to Reuters.
Agreement
Under a partnership agreement, both companies together will be building a joint venture to battery swapping network. Under Hero brand, Hero MotoCorp will also launch electric two-wheelers in the Indian market based on Gogoro technology. These will be the first electric vehicles to be launched by Hero.
Additionally, the deal will also focus on expanding Gogoro’s reach to Hero’s global market of more than 40 countries. Details related to launching cities, first vehicles, and pricing are yet to be announced by the companies soon.
Gogoro story
Back in 2011, the company was founded by Horace Luke and Matt Taylor soon the company secured $50 million in funding. In 2015, Gogoro launched its first smart scooter an electric scooter for urban transportation. In 2017, the company launched its second model with a top speed of 95 km/h.
By the end of 2015, more than 4000 were sold and soon the company took over the Taiwanese electric market with a 33.94 percent share of the market. By 2016, Taiwan had a GoStation for every 1.3 kilometers. By February 2021, 1,959 GoStations in total across the country of which 66 were Super GoStation.
Gogoro Network cloud service
Gogoro’s batteries and chargers are connected to its cloud service network. The system monitors the condition of batteries and manages them quickly. Thus the batteries last longer. A similar network will be built in India. The company claims none of its super batteries are retired in the last six years.
In India, the company will start working in densely populated areas. Then add stations according to the demand, a similar approach was used in 2015 when the first scooter launched in Taiwan.