TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s battery-swapping infrastructure provider Gogoro is one of several companies helping those in Asia make the switch to electric vehicles (EVs).
Battery-swapping has not quite caught on in the West due to the difficulty of implementing it for electric cars, according to Bloomberg. However, it’s an ideal solution for Asia with the ubiquity of two- and three-wheelers throughout the region.
Switching out depleted batteries for new ones is quick and easy, while they also help alleviate range anxiety and push broader EV adoption.
In India, almost 80% of vehicles sold are two-wheelers, while motorcycles and rickshaws are responsible for about one third of fuel consumption on the road, Bloomberg cited clean energy research group BloombergNEF as saying. Getting these vehicles to go electric could greatly help reduce emissions.
In 2020, only 2% of two-wheelers sold in Southeast Asia were electric. BloombergNEF is forecasting that number to grow to 20% by 2030, partly as a result of battery-swapping.
Besides already dominating the electric two-wheeler market in Taiwan, Gogoro has pilot programs in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. In India, RACEnergy sells kits that can convert gas-powered rickshaws into EVs with batteries that can be swapped at its stations, per the report.
MO Batteries is conducting a battery-swapping pilot in Singapore with plans to expand to Malaysia. The company is also trying out battery-swapping with DHL in Vietnam, according to the report. In Japan, automotive giant Honda recently set up its first swapping station for scooters in Tokyo.
According to BloombergNEF, battery-swapping stations are easier to build for scooters and rickshaws than compared to cars. And then companies like Gogoro have also utilized signing partnerships with several manufacturers to guarantee they use a standard swapable battery.
Looking ahead, Gogoro has plans beyond just battery-swapping. Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) told Bloomberg the company is turning some of its 12,000-plus stations into virtual power plants, where parked batteries can send power back to the grid during demand spikes or power outages.
Luke said the company has tested the solution at 10 stations around Taiwan so far and has plans to monetize the service.
