Two-wheeler giant Hero MotoCorp and Taiwan’s electric scooter pioneer Gogoro are forming a joint venture to deploy a large battery swapping network in India and eventually develop EVs for the country.
Hero is the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, while Gogoro has the largest battery swapping network for electric vehicles in the world are partnering to bolster the adoption of EVs in India, which is the world’s largest two-wheeler market.
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The JV will entail bringing Gogoro’s user-friendly battery swapping platform to India to bolster the country’s EV infrastructure. Apart from that, it will help Hero to launch its first electric vehicle in India, which will be based on the same technology. The two companies had been in talks for over a year, and the first fruits of the partnership will be seen later this year, presumably in the form of an electric scooter.
Founded in 2011, Gogoro has more than 2,000 GoStations in its homecountry. Every day, it facilitates over 2,00,000 battery swaps, where a rider can have a fresh battery installed in less than a minute. It also licenses out this battery technology to other automotive companies. In Taiwan, it has already sold more than 3,65,000 smart electric scooters. Every aspect of the experience is connected, giving the company valuable data about consumer behaviour.
“We are at a critical stage in the transformation of urban mobility and the evolution of smart cities. With more than 225 million gas-powered two-wheel vehicles in India, the need for smart and sustainable electric transportation and refuelling is vital,” said Horace Luke, founder, and CEO, Gogoro Inc.
While Hero MotoCorp is yet to launch any electric two-wheelers, it does own a 34% stake in Ather Energy — which is the fastest-growing EV company in India with its Ather 450X electric scooter. Perhaps we would see a bigger collaboration between the three companies in the future.
Notably, Ather has been very vocal against battery swapping on electric vehicles, maintaining that it is a worse user experience and comes with design compromises. It has about 150 charging stations across the country.
With the Gogoro partnership, Hero will join the likes of Ola Electric and Ultraviolette Automotive in releasing its first electric two-wheeler in India this year.
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