Gogoro, the battery-swapping system for motorcycles that is gaining ground in Taiwan

Electric mobility has become an increasingly popular way of getting around the city. But this system still faces the problem of charging the batteries. To solve this problem, seven years ago Gogoro was born, a Taiwanese company that has created a battery-swapping system that allows a charged battery to be ready in a matter of minutes.

Little by little it has managed to establish itself as the battery standard on the island. Many manufacturers have been encouraged to install the batteries designed and manufactured by Gogoro, so the system proposed by the company has been expanding throughout Taiwan and could pave the way for expansion into other countries.

An efficient battery-swapping system

The problem was avoiding long charging periods and running out of power at times of intense use. Instead of plugging the scooter into a charging post, you simply head to one of the storage points, remove the battery from the scooter, insert it into the reserved slot and pick up a new one.

A system that has proven to be a success. During 2021, Gogoro surpassed 200 million battery swaps, which demonstrates the success of the initiative. We are only two months into 2022 and the figure has already reached 225 million swaps. In Taiwan there are 10,900 battery-swapping stations, known as GoStations.

The daily usage figure is 450,000 users. They access the service through a monthly subscription. Many manufacturers have adapted their models to this system, so range stops being a concern. In the same time it would take to refuel with petrol, users can have a battery ready for use.

The subscription depends on the estimated distance each user travels, with a minimum subscription of 9.53 euros and a maximum of 38.20 euros. In Europe, including Spain, a very efficient motorsharing service operates, so it might be more complicated to introduce this system there, but if it were, it would encourage the purchase of electric scooters and motorcycles.