Gogoro Network Battery Swapping Heads to China
Gogoro has announced a partnership with industry leaders Yadea and DaChangJiang (DCJ) to bring battery swapping to China. Later this year, Yadea and DCJ will roll out Gogoro’s advanced battery swapping network in the city of Hangzhou, with more coming online in 2022.
Already home to ~47% of all EVs globally, China’s push to become carbon neutral by 2060 is spurring the country’s more than 300 million 2 wheel riders to adopt a new generation of advanced 2EVs to meet that goal. Already the largest group of 2 wheel riders on the planet, this accelerated transformation won’t just impact riders in China, though. Calls for sweeping changes to an out-of-date plug-in charging infrastructure and improved safety standards for 2EVs is something any rider, anywhere in the world, will benefit from.
Gogoro’s battery swapping partnership with Yadea and DCJ in China will fast-track that next wave of 2EVs with smarter, safer, more reliable smart vehicles that the Gogoro Network will power for millions of riders. And China’s megacities will benefit from our future-proof battery swapping system that’s safe and proven at scale. In Taiwan alone, Gogoro Network subscribers have already swapped over 185 million batteries since 2015 and have averaged over 275,000 battery swaps a day in the last 30 days.
A Safer, Smarter, Faster Way Forward
The latest regulations look to improve at least one component for all riders, whether they’re on an ebike or sit-down escooter: the battery. A relic from the past, battery makers and vehicle manufacturers are swapping out sealed (VRLA) lead-acid batteries for lithium-ion batteries.
More than 270 million legacy 2W EVs and ICE-powered 2Ws will be taken off the streets of China by 2025 to continue the push to electric. Riders in China and cities everywhere all face an unreliable and sometimes unsafe charging infrastructure for plug-in 2W EVs, especially ones powered by outdated tech.
We’ve taken a much different approach by thinking about lithium-ion batteries as smart, connected devices. Coupled with real-world riding data and our advanced machine learning and AI systems, Gogoro Smart Batteries are continuously monitored, optimized and udpated for better efficiency and greater longevity. We’ve become such experts in smart battery technology that 99% of Smart Batteries launched in 2015 are still powering Smartscooters in Taiwan today. They’re widely recognized as the industry standard for safety, toughness and security, too.
Some cities in China have announced they’ll begin banning home charging and mandating the clustering of charging points. This is a significant measure that addresses what we already know about plug-in charging and how it’s stifled EV adoption — long wait times to refuel, no safe way to scale without compromising the whole grid and high cost of EV ownership.
By comparison, a single Gogoro Network Super GoStation can service thousands of riders a day in a much smaller footprint without ever overloading the grid, thanks to network-wide real-time optimization. There’s no new construction needed either and it’s a cost-effective smart city upgrade that scales quickly and is easy for everyone to use. Buying an electric vehicle with a battery that isn’t guaranteed to be future-proof doesn’t make sense for anyone, anywhere. So why buy when you can subscribe to ones that are and refuel whenever you need, whenever you want.
Taking the Leap Together
We’re excited to welcome DCJ, the largest ICE motorcycle maker in China, as they transition to electric in building the next stage of urban mobility for millions of riders. We’re ready to integrate our technology, software and services, and best-in-class user experiences to help create a new generation of DCJ products that riders in China will love.
Yadea’s adoption of Gogoro’s “Swap & Go” technology is yet another testament that our battery swapping solution is the quickest and cleanest path to delivering smart, portable electric power to urban 2EV riders. As the world’s second-largest manufacturer of 2Ws and the leading 2EV maker in China, Yadea is poised to radically improve 2EV ownership for millions looking to switch or upgrade.
Both join our growing PBGN Alliance of partners worldwide in our shared vision for cleaner urban mobility. Together with Yadea and DCJ in China, Hero MotorCorp in India and abroad, Yamaha, Aeonmotor, eReady, PGO, Awayspeed, and CMC’s eMOVING in Taiwan, our mission to put smart, portable electric power within reach of every urban rider in the world just took another giant leap forward.
Likewise, consumers looking for a smart electric scooter experience will have even more choices to pick from as the world’s largest battery swapping network continues to expand globally.
Later this year, DCJ and Yadea will deploy the first battery swapping stations powered by the Gogoro Network in the city of Hangzhou. Located near the country’s most populated cities, like Shanghai, and the most 2EV riders in the Yangtze River Delta, Hangzhou will lead China’s 2EV smart evolution with other cities coming online next year.
Setting a New Global Benchmark
With the two leading 2W manufacturers in the world, Hero MotoCorp and Yadea, embracing Gogoro’s smart battery swapping platform and technology, the global transformation to smarter urban vehicles and more efficient refueling in cities just got a shot in the arm. The future of cleaner cities and smarter mobility is a lot closer than you think.
You just have to Swap & Go.
This article was originally published by Gogoro Inc.
