Gogoro, a Taiwanese electric scooter and battery swapping developer, signed a MoU with Foxconn to accelerate the expansion of its battery swapping system and Smartscooters, as reported by PR Newswire on June 23. With this partnership, Gogoro will scale up its production using Foxconn’s extensive manufacturing capabilities. The two companies will collaborate on several projects including vehicle engineering, as well as smart battery refinement and production. Meanwhile, Gogoro will have more capacity to focus on its product design, distribution, and customer service.

Foxconn is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers and the supplier of some popular products in the tech industry, including Apple’s iPhone. As part of Foxconn’s 3+3 strategy, electric vehicle (EV) is one of the key new business ventures for the company, along with digital health and robotics. Recently, it formed partnerships with several EV makers such as the US brand Fisker and Chinese automakers Geely and Byton. With the Foxconn-Gogoro partnership, Foxconn will step beyond four-wheel EVs to include Gogoro’s two-wheel Smartscooters and battery swapping system.

Gogoro’s battery swapping system, the Gogoro Network, allows riders to swap out their batteries at charging stations instead of waiting for their scooters to charge. According to the company, 270,000 battery swaps take place daily in its network of 2,100 battery swapping stations, accumulating to nearly 200m total battery swaps to date. In addition, in 2015, the company launched Gogoro Smartscooters, a smart electric two-wheel vehicle, which now has around 370,000 riders. The Foxconn-Gogoro partnership follows Gogoro’s announcements of its global expansion plans this April. Gogoro planned to expand into India by partnering with India’s two-wheeler giant Hero MotorCorp. One month later, Gogoro signed partnerships with two Chinese motorcycle companies, Yadea and Dachangjiang Group (DCJ). Now powered by Foxconn’s production capabilities, Gogoro will be able to bring its battery swapping technology and Smartscooters into more countries and regions.

Sources:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foxconn-and-gogoro-announce-strategic-partnership-to-accelerate-the-expansion-of-gogoros-battery-swapping-system-and-smartscooters-301318016.html

https://thedriven.io/2021/06/25/electric-scooter-battery-swap-platform-gets-boost-as-foxconn-backs-gogoro/

https://www.electrive.com/2021/06/24/foxconn-gogoro-team-up-to-expand-battery-swapping/