Gogoro’s Swappable Batteries To Power Food Delivery Scooters In Singapore
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Gogoro is a company we love to follow here at CleanTechnica. They got their start in Taiwan, where scooters are already immensely popular. But, Gogoro figured out a way to make it easier to keep an electric scooter charged up in a country where most people don’t have access to a plug where they park, opening up a lot of potential for electric transportation.
Gogoro’s battery swap stations are designed to make electric scooter ownership more convenient and sustainable. The stations, called GoStations, are located in over 2,504 locations around the world. When a rider needs to swap out their depleted battery for a fresh one, they simply pull up to a GoStation and insert their smart battery into the station. The station then automatically swaps out the depleted battery for a fresh one in seconds.
The Gogoro Network Battery Swapping Platform also allows riders to subscribe to worry-free battery service. This subscription gives them easy access to fresh batteries as they go, making it easier than ever to keep their electric scooters running without having to worry about charging or replacing batteries themselves.
To date, Gogoro has 12,200 battery swapping stations in Taiwan alone with more than 1.1 million smart batteries in circulation throughout its network. The company says its nearly 400,000 daily battery swaps and more than 370 million total battery swaps have saved more than 250,000 tons of CO2 emissions since its launch in 2015.
So, it makes a lot of sense that people in other countries where scooters are popular would look to adopt them for more than personal transportation. And, a recent announcement shows us that this is continuing to happen.
Gogoro Inc. and Cycle & Carriage Singapore (C&C) are partnering with the leading food delivery platform foodpanda to launch a battery swapping pilot in Singapore. This is part of the battery swapping sandbox pilot program that was awarded to Gogoro and C&C by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) last year. The aim of this project is to provide smart electric two-wheel vehicles for last mile deliveries in Singapore.
This pilot aims to reduce the cost and hassle associated with charging electric vehicles, while making it easier for delivery fleets to use them. Thanks to Gogoro’s innovative swappable batteries, riders will be able to quickly switch out empty batteries at designated GoStations, eliminating wait times between deliveries. In addition, by matching their deliveries routes with nearby GoStations, riders can make sure they always have a full battery when needed.
“With more than 26 percent of all daily quick deliveries in Taiwan enabled by Gogoro battery swapping, I am excited to be introducing our battery swapping and vehicle technologies in Singapore with two market-leading partners like Cycle & Carriage Singapore and foodpanda,” said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO of Gogoro. “Cities like Singapore are at an inflection point of sustainability and are beginning to embrace sustainable transportation in new impactful ways. On average, last mile delivery riders ride more than six-times the distance as consumer riders, so enabling these delivery riders to adopt smart sustainable electric transportation can have an accelerated impact on a city.”
The pilot entails C&C leasing Gogoro 2 Series Smartscooters to foodpanda riders. The Gogoro 2 is optimized for a smoother and more premium urban riding experience, with a range of up to 100km and the ability to seamlessly integrate with Gogoro’s battery swapping system. By swapping out depleted batteries for new ones in seconds at battery swapping stations, riders will no longer have to worry about charging or replacing their vehicle batteries, eliminating downtime and not compromising their potential earnings.
The Gogoro 2 also features a range of other innovative technologies, such as:
- An advanced digital display which provides all the information needed while riding
- 48V smart battery design that offers better energy management and improved performance
- A ProMax motor with the highest power density available in an electric scooter
- A modular chassis design that reduces maintenance time by up to 30%
- Smart electronic brakes that can detect different levels of rider skill and automatically adjust braking force accordingly.
The C&C leasing package for riders also includes battery swapping services and service and maintenance costs, making operating costs comparable to those of internal combustion engines. This optimized rider convenience means that riders will initially be able to swap their batteries at two battery swapping stations located at C&C’s Service Centers at Alexandra and Ubi, with the service and maintenance center also located at the Alexandra complex.
To ensure high-quality maintenance services for riders, C&C’s experienced Gogoro technicians have undergone rigorous training in order to provide top-notch services. With this reliable support network in place, foodpanda riders will have their electric vehicles taken care of so that they can continue delivering orders with confidence.
With a strong delivery fleet of thousands of riders, foodpanda recognizes the key role it can play in furthering sustainability in the delivery industry. Through the introduction of eco-friendly transportation alternatives like the Gogoro 2 Series Smartscooters, foodpanda is helping to push forward Singapore’s goal of creating a greener and more sustainable future in urban mobility.
This multi-industry collaboration between C&C, Gogoro and foodpanda reflects the potential that can be unlocked when different stakeholders come together to create innovative solutions for sustainable transportation. By combining electric scooters with battery swapping services and comprehensive maintenance support, riders are now empowered with a green alternative that is convenient, reliable and cost-effective.
“A sustainable future is one where we are all mindful of our actions and to achieve that, our individual efforts matter – starting from today. At foodpanda, we have been working to make eco-friendlier vehicle options an affordable and practical choice for our riders, and are proud to report that to-date, over 50 percent of our riders conduct deliveries on greener transportation such as e-bikes and bicycles. We’re excited to explore more ways for our riders to be sustainable with this partnership with C&C and Gogoro, and to continue to set the standard for sustainable practices in the delivery industry as we move towards Singapore’s vision of having all vehicles be powered by cleaner energy by 2040,” said Lawrence Wen, CEO of foodpanda Singapore.
Featured image provided by Gogoro.
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