7 ms·

Taiwanese startup Gogoro reveals an electric scooter designed for commuters

44 points by cryptoz 12y ago

russelluresti 12y ago
Very cool. The battery swap idea is nice (which is probably why Tesla switched to it recently), and they're right - it can be used for a lot more than just scooters (if they can convince other manufacturers to accept their batteries). The only issue is that it doesn't sound like their battery technology is all that great. The mentioned the scooter can only get 60 miles on a full charge - meanwhile, a Tesla can get over 200 and should consume a lot more energy than a smaller scooter. With so much of their idea riding on the battery itself (and not the scooter), they're going to need an awesome battery. If they have to use someone else's battery technology, I don't think it will work out that well for them, as a company. As an idea, it's great. As a company, they've got work to do in the department of developing a better battery.
- soperj 12y ago
  Car might consume more energy, but it also has more room to put the batteries. 60 miles on a scooter is a fair bit since they can't go on a highway.
- jawngee 12y ago
  I live in Vietnam where scooters are the defacto mode of transport. I literally get headaches driving home during rush hour from sucking all that exhaust, though I've recently been able to find a good solid face mask (a Totobobo) that helps a lot. Anyways, my point is that 60 miles on a scooter is pretty far in terms of how scooters are used here. You aren't going to make that long haul to Dalat or anything, but for day to day, this thing would be awesome. I don't think it'll catch on here though, but I won't get into why.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- viseztrance 12y ago
  You can't really compare the range of a scooter / motorcycle to that of a car, be it electric or not. Having this said, my motorcycle consumes almost as much fuel as an average car.
- jaachan 12y ago
  > which is probably why Tesla switched to it recently "Tesla's Battery Swap Stations Will Help It Requalify For ZEV Credits In California" -- http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/12/30/teslas-battery-swap-stations-will-help-it-requalify-for-zev-credits-in-california/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/12/30/tes... Tesla would not make a profit without those credits. -- http://seekingalpha.com/article/2724835-after-earning-tens-of-thousands-of-zev-credits-tesla-has-built-zero-swap-stations http://seekingalpha.com/article/2724835-after-earning-tens-o...
rbcgerard 12y ago
my guess is that if it can get off the ground, it will eventually be a battery service company and not a scooter company
bogardon 12y ago
very slick design:)
bryanlarsen 12y ago
This doesn't make any sense to me. Nobody ever drives more than 30 miles in one direction on a scooter, so plugging it in overnight would be a lot more convenient than driving to a swap station. Sure, it might only take 6 seconds to swap a battery, but even if the swap station is really close by, driving there every day will get old really fast.
- sologoub 12y ago
  Same here, very confused by no plugin option. When I saw the article originally, got very excited. My 8 mile commute to the office is perfect for something like this... but swapping the battery kinda kills it for me.
- ealexhudson 12y ago
  The proprietary part thing is also very strange. It's unlikely (I think) that they will be able to keep others out of the market anyway, but it's also a very weird idea that you could buy a bike but then have to pay a subscription otherwise you can't use it. Maybe the pricing model will make this more straightforward somehow, but Chinese four-strokes are very cheap now, so it's difficult to imagine how this might be price competitive.
- buro9 12y ago
  > Nobody ever drives more than 30 miles in one direction on a scooter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSnwG61B7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSnwG61B7g 60 miles each direction... frequently done by quite a few people and not just as a mass event (though it looks better for YouTube). Wouldn't want to trust a 60 mile range battery on it though.
- ErikRogneby 12y ago
  How about a pizza delivery guy with an 5 hour shift?
  - cben 12y ago
    which is precisely an example where plug-in wouldn't help but quick battery swap does. A pizzeria easily justifies having their own swap station.
technofiend 12y ago
Interesting idea. I live in a sub-tropical zone that is hot most of the year. If I had the option of this or a $30-40k Tesla and the ability to just swap batteries, the Tesla would win every time for two reasons a) a roof over my head to keep the rain off, b) air conditioning. I might have gone for it in college, but even then I'd been saving my pennies for a car.
joshuaheard 12y ago
I see where they are going. Assuming all vehicles go electric in the future and swappable batteries become the norm, it would make sense to standardize on one battery whose distribution would be ubiquitous, versus each vehicle manufacturer having to create a swappable battery distribution system.
RRRA 12y ago
Funny how they compare this to AA batteries that anyone can make while they want a DRM enforced monopoly... Open up!
thomasfl 12y ago
Gogoro should try make their battery design an IEC standard. In the video Horace Luke talks about the impact the AA battery had on the consumer electronics industry. AA batteries was standardised by ANSI in 1947. Todays standard batteries are too small for any kind of transportation device. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes
foxyv 12y ago
Anyone else notice the use of the Arduino symbol on the charging station?

44 points by cryptoz 12y ago

Very cool. The battery swap idea is nice (which is probably why Tesla switched to it recently), and they're right - it can be used for a lot more than just scooters (if they can convince other manufacturers to accept their batteries). The only issue is that it doesn't sound like their battery technology is all that great. The mentioned the scooter can only get 60 miles on a full charge - meanwhile, a Tesla can get over 200 and should consume a lot more energy than a smaller scooter. With so much of their idea riding on the battery itself (and not the scooter), they're going to need an awesome battery. If they have to use someone else's battery technology, I don't think it will work out that well for them, as a company. As an idea, it's great. As a company, they've got work to do in the department of developing a better battery.

soperj 12y ago
Car might consume more energy, but it also has more room to put the batteries. 60 miles on a scooter is a fair bit since they can't go on a highway.
jawngee 12y ago
I live in Vietnam where scooters are the defacto mode of transport. I literally get headaches driving home during rush hour from sucking all that exhaust, though I've recently been able to find a good solid face mask (a Totobobo) that helps a lot. Anyways, my point is that 60 miles on a scooter is pretty far in terms of how scooters are used here. You aren't going to make that long haul to Dalat or anything, but for day to day, this thing would be awesome. I don't think it'll catch on here though, but I won't get into why.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
viseztrance 12y ago
You can't really compare the range of a scooter / motorcycle to that of a car, be it electric or not. Having this said, my motorcycle consumes almost as much fuel as an average car.
jaachan 12y ago
> which is probably why Tesla switched to it recently "Tesla's Battery Swap Stations Will Help It Requalify For ZEV Credits In California" -- http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/12/30/teslas-battery-swap-stations-will-help-it-requalify-for-zev-credits-in-california/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/12/30/tes... Tesla would not make a profit without those credits. -- http://seekingalpha.com/article/2724835-after-earning-tens-of-thousands-of-zev-credits-tesla-has-built-zero-swap-stations http://seekingalpha.com/article/2724835-after-earning-tens-o...

rbcgerard 12y ago

my guess is that if it can get off the ground, it will eventually be a battery service company and not a scooter company

bogardon 12y ago

very slick design:)

bryanlarsen 12y ago

This doesn't make any sense to me. Nobody ever drives more than 30 miles in one direction on a scooter, so plugging it in overnight would be a lot more convenient than driving to a swap station. Sure, it might only take 6 seconds to swap a battery, but even if the swap station is really close by, driving there every day will get old really fast.

sologoub 12y ago
Same here, very confused by no plugin option. When I saw the article originally, got very excited. My 8 mile commute to the office is perfect for something like this... but swapping the battery kinda kills it for me.
ealexhudson 12y ago
The proprietary part thing is also very strange. It's unlikely (I think) that they will be able to keep others out of the market anyway, but it's also a very weird idea that you could buy a bike but then have to pay a subscription otherwise you can't use it. Maybe the pricing model will make this more straightforward somehow, but Chinese four-strokes are very cheap now, so it's difficult to imagine how this might be price competitive.
buro9 12y ago
> Nobody ever drives more than 30 miles in one direction on a scooter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSnwG61B7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lSnwG61B7g 60 miles each direction... frequently done by quite a few people and not just as a mass event (though it looks better for YouTube). Wouldn't want to trust a 60 mile range battery on it though.
ErikRogneby 12y ago
How about a pizza delivery guy with an 5 hour shift?
- cben 12y ago
  which is precisely an example where plug-in wouldn't help but quick battery swap does. A pizzeria easily justifies having their own swap station.

technofiend 12y ago

Interesting idea. I live in a sub-tropical zone that is hot most of the year. If I had the option of this or a $30-40k Tesla and the ability to just swap batteries, the Tesla would win every time for two reasons a) a roof over my head to keep the rain off, b) air conditioning. I might have gone for it in college, but even then I'd been saving my pennies for a car.

joshuaheard 12y ago

I see where they are going. Assuming all vehicles go electric in the future and swappable batteries become the norm, it would make sense to standardize on one battery whose distribution would be ubiquitous, versus each vehicle manufacturer having to create a swappable battery distribution system.

RRRA 12y ago

Funny how they compare this to AA batteries that anyone can make while they want a DRM enforced monopoly... Open up!

thomasfl 12y ago

Gogoro should try make their battery design an IEC standard. In the video Horace Luke talks about the impact the AA battery had on the consumer electronics industry. AA batteries was standardised by ANSI in 1947. Todays standard batteries are too small for any kind of transportation device. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes

foxyv 12y ago

Anyone else notice the use of the Arduino symbol on the charging station?