An experiment with electric scooters, and a new way to power them. This past weekend, startup Gogoro shipped its first run of 400 pre-ordered scooters to customers in Taipei.
The company, which launched early this year, has also installed 65 of its battery stations around Taipei for customers.
Gogoro became one of the favorites at CES 2015 with its swappable battery solution for its electric vehicle. Instead of plugging the electric scooter into an outlet at home or at charging stations, riders use the company’s GoStation battery kiosks in their city and swap out the two batteries that reside under the seat. Gogoro has been working with Taipei businesses and the government to implement the battery swapping infrastructure it needs to sell its bike.
The news is pretty big for the startup, and kicks off the first commercial use of the company’s scooters and infrastructure. Gogoro needs this first run to work well if it’s going to expand to other cities. The startup will also be able to use this first deployment to work out any kinks it runs into.
Last month Gogoro said the scooters would cost $4,100 for a basic version and $5,100 for a higher performance version.
Source: Fortune
