Electric Smartscooter Arrives In Taiwan

Gogoro is preparing to launch its electric Smartscooter in Taiwan this summer, coming to Taipei City and Greater Taipei City first with an expansion to more cities in the near future.

The Smartscooter features a whole new system for charging. Customers subscribe to an electric battery supply dotted throughout the city, once the battery runs dry the driver replaces it with a new one and keeps on rolling.

This brings into question range anxiety but given Taiwan is a small region and it is only offering it in Taipei City, it is clear Gogoro doesn’t want drivers taking long trips on the Smartscooter.

It is also clear this is for urban drivers that spend a lot of time on the road and can easily find the allotted places where batteries are stored. Panasonic will be supplying two of the battery packs, which fit underneath the seat for easy accessibility.

Gogoro has already launched a beta program with 100 testers in Taipei City, to see if any changes need to be made to the Smartscooter or the placement of the battery stations.

The team working on the Smartscooter is a collection of ex-HTC employees and other faces from technology and car backgrounds. Gogoro has been hiring some battery talent to make its Smartscooter last longer, but has not given a firm range for the scooter.

Gogoro will be showing off the scooter in Taipei over the next few weeks before the summer launch. It will teach customers all of the small details in the scooter, in order to prepare them for a different sort of driving experience.

There’s no word on price, although Gogoro claims it will remain competitive with gasoline scooters.

SOURCE: [The Verge]