Gogoro Inc, a Taiwan-based battery swapping ecosystems provider announced Thursday that Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded it with a sandbox pilot to deploy and validate battery swapping as a means for next generation smart mobility.
Gogoro said in a statement the firm is kicking off its sandbox pilot by partnering with Jardine Cycle & Carriage, a diversified group with market-leading businesses across Southeast Asia.
Jardine Cycle & Carriage’s subsidiary Cycle & Carriage will be the exclusive distributor of Gogoro’s electric scooters in Singapore as well as the operator and installer of Gogoro’s battery swapping infrastructure in the city-state, according to the statement.
“Cities are in desperate need of sustainable transportation solutions, not just for consumers, but for businesses. Gogoro battery swapping provides a sustainable path for urban fleets that is safe, reliable, scalable and always available,
“Today in Taiwan, Gogoro’s battery swapping enables more than a quarter of all quick commerce deliveries like food and online purchases and nearly 100 percent of all electric deliveries,” said Horace Luke, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Gogoro.
He said the group is partnering with Jardine Cycle & Carriage Group to introduce this new sustainable business model for food delivery and logistics fleets in Singapore today and in other cities across the region in the future.
Meanwhile, JC&C Managing Director for direct motor interests Wilfrid Foo said in support of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, he is excited to collaborate with Gogoro to introduce an innovative electric two-wheeler solution for the city-state’s green ambitions.
“We are confident that we are well-placed to accelerate the implementation of Gogoro’s best-in-class battery swapping solution by deploying our existing infrastructure to operate the GoStation network in Singapore. Together with Gogoro, we are looking for partners in the delivery or logistics space that are interested in harnessing this potential and benefitting from this platform with us,
“Jardine Cycle & Carriage participates across the automotive value chain from manufacturing, distribution, retail to aftersales in several Southeast Asian countries. With our regional network, we look forward to the prospect of facilitating opportunities for the penetration of electric scooters and battery swapping stations in new markets,” he added.
Launching soon, the Gogoro battery swapping sandbox pilot will include Gogoro Smartscooters, Gogoro GoStation battery swap stations and Gogoro smart batteries.
Cycle & Carriage will manage Gogoro’s battery swapping network and vehicle fleet in Singapore. Cycle & Carriage will also explore working with a variety of food delivery and logistics fleets in the country. The Gogoro sandbox supports Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 and vision for transitioning Singapore to sustainable energy and transportation.
Launched in 2015, Gogoro battery swapping has become the refueling leader for electric two-wheel vehicles with more than 92% market share in Taiwan in the first half of 2022.
The Singapore Green Plan 2030 is a national sustainability movement which seeks to rally bold and collective action to tackle climate change.
The Green Plan charts ambitious and concrete targets over the next 10 years, strengthening Singapore’s commitments under the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and Paris Agreement, and positioning Singapore to achieve its long-term net zero emissions aspiration as soon as viable.
Gogoro is honored to be given approval by the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) to operate a sandbox to validate Gogoro battery swapping as a smart mobility refueling solution for the future, and we applaud the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and its proactive commitment to sustainable energy and transportation,” said Luke.
In early 2022, Gogoro announced its participation in the development of Singapore’s new Technical Reference (TR25) standard for charging electric vehicles, where Gogoro focused on battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles.
TR25 established new requirements for safe installation, maintenance and operation of EV charging including battery swapping systems that provide a significant path to accelerating EV adoption in Singapore. A key objective of the sandbox is to achieve TR25 certification of Gogoro’s battery swapping platform.
Gogoro’s open battery swapping ecosystem currently supports ten different vehicle brands, accounting for more than 25 percent of all two-wheelers sold in Taipei City, Taiwan in the first half of 2022.
At the heart of Gogoro’s ecosystem is the Gogoro Network, an open and interoperable battery swapping platform that was recognized in 2021 by Guidehouse Insights as the leading battery swapping solution for lightweight urban vehicles.
The Gogoro Network is an open platform for battery swapping and smart mobility services, delivering a fresh alternative to legacy fuel. It is a new generation of swappable battery refueling that is smart, scalable, and continually optimizing itself to be dynamic and versatile for people, communities, and businesses.
With more than 500,000 riders and nearly 11,000 battery swapping GoStation cabinets at over 2,240 locations, Gogoro Network is hosting 340,000 daily battery swaps with more than 325 million total battery swaps to date.
Taiwan’s Gogoro to launch battery swapping platform & smartscooters in Israel