Gogoro Expands Battery Swapping Tech and Smartscooters to Chile and Colombia
Gogoro, the Taiwanese e-mobility innovator, has had a busy week. In addition to releasing its most performance-oriented model, the Pulse, the company has announced a major expansion initiative. Through a partnership with Latin American energy company Copec, Gogoro plans to launch its battery swapping technology and Smartscooters in Chile and Colombia in the second quarter of 2024.
Copec, an established energy and retail company based in Chile, operates over 3,000 service stations and retail stores in the region. With the increasing demand for electric mobility worldwide, this partnership allows Copec to embrace modern technologies and take a future-proof approach to mobility. Currently, Copec has the largest electric charging network for electric vehicles in South America.
Gogoro's founder and CEO, Horace Luke, stated in a press release that the partnership with Copec is part of their vision to transform urban transportation. He believes that together they can provide an accessible path for consumers and delivery riders to adopt sustainable urban mobility and combat climate change.
Chile and Colombia have a thriving last-mile delivery industry, making Gogoro's Smartscooters well-received in these countries. These vehicles must be efficient, robust, reliable, and affordable to maintain for last-mile delivery riders. Luke explained that enabling these riders to adopt smart sustainable electric transportation can have an accelerated impact on cities.
Copec is excited to embrace Gogoro's technology as it marks their first entry into the electric two-wheeler space. With the popularity of two-wheelers in Latin America, Copec will be able to reach a wider audience through Gogoro's battery-swapping tech and Smartscooters. Arturo Natho, Copec's CEO, believes that this implementation will bring sustainable mobility to many more segments of the population.
Gogoro's success in Taiwan is what Luke envisions for every country the company enters. In Taiwan, Gogoro has a robust network with close to 600,000 riders and over 1.3 million smart batteries in circulation. The network includes 12,000 battery swapping stations at more than 2,500 locations and has saved over 900,000 tons of CO2 since its launch in 2015.