Gogoro continues its international expansion, adding the Philippines to its portfolio. The electric scooter manufacturer is rolling out its electric scooters and battery-swapping network there.
The scooters will be available to people in “Metro Manila” in the fourth quarter of 2023. Gigoro is partnering with the Filipino digital solutions platform Globe Group’s 917Ventures and top Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation for the roll-out.
“We in the Globe Group are very proud to bring Gogoro Smartscooters and battery-swapping to the Philippines, a transport ecosystem that marries mobility innovation and sustainability,” says Ernest Cu, Globe Group President and CEO. “This year, Filipinos will have access to these electric two wheel vehicles and Gogoro’s convenient and cost-efficient battery-swapping technology, another first in the Philippines.”
In its home market, Taiwan, Gogoro already has “540,000 riders and has deployed more than 1 million smart batteries at 12,000 battery-swapping stations.” According to the company, batteries have been swapped 450 million times – 400,000 swaps daily. A success that the company hopes to repeat in the Phillippines.
“Our partnership with the Globe Group and Ayala Corporation in the Philippines is a major milestone in our mission to transform urban transportation and provide an accessible path for riders to adopt sustainable urban mobility and play a key role in battling climate change and making the world better for all,” says Horace Luke, Founder and CEO of Gogoro.
Gogoro was launched in 2011 in Taiwan. It believes electric two-wheelers are the way to go in densely populated areas. The company is known for its swapping system, which lets users replace empty batteries with full ones – a clear advantage over scooters that need to be publicly charged, the company says, as charging opportunities are often hard to find and expensive to build.
The company announced its expansion to India last November. However, only for B2B customers. In 2022, Gogoro also completed its US IPO, expanded to Israel, finalised cooperation agreements with Yamaha, and joined forces with Foxconn to expand into Indonesia. Plans to enter the Chinese market with a joint venture to create a new Chinese brand have been put on ice. Apparently, the country’s crackdown on Covid-19 and ongoing trade issues with the US caused too much uncertainty.
Keyword: Gogoro expands to the Philippines