Taiwanese electric vehicle firm Gogoro has teamed up with Globe Telecom’s 917Ventures and conglomerate Ayala Corporation to bring its smart scooter and battery-swapping technology in the Philippines.
Gogoro, which got listed in New York through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company Poema Global in April, will pilot its services in the capital Manila in Q1 of next year. The flagship services include a two-wheel battery swapping and its two-wheel electric vehicle Smartscooters.
Smartscooters will serve as an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel-powered vehicles currently used by the logistics and last-mile delivery industry.
The partnership seeks to reduce the use of fossil fuel by the country’s logistics industry, which is known to release significantly more emissions per vehicle per day than consumer riding, according to Vince Yamat, managing director of 917Ventures.
“Hopefully, this technology will encourage more Filipinos to switch to EV,” Yamat added.
917Ventures, backed by telecom giant Globe and Ayala Corporation, is the largest corporate venture builder in the Philippines.
Gogoro is one of Taiwan’s most valuable startups and counts the National Development Fund, a government funding vehicle, and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek among investors.
It launched its first scooter in 2015 and describes itself as a technology company offering connected technologies or two-wheel electric mobility solutions.
Prior to its Philippine plans, Gogoro has already partnered with Indonesian ride-hailing major Gojek to electrify urban transportation in Indonesia.
It also partnered with China’s Dachangjiang Group (DCJ), a gas-powered two-wheel vehicle maker, and Yadea, a leading electric two-wheel vehicle maker, in order to introduce Gogoro’s battery-swapping technology to China.
In Taiwan, Gogoro currently has over 11,000 battery-swapping stations at more than 2,260 locations. With over 1 million batteries in circulation, the number of GoStations has already surpassed the number of gas stations in Taiwan’s major cities, making Gogoro battery swapping the de facto standard for electric two-wheel refueling in Taiwan.
The Gogoro Network has more than 520,000 riders that perform more than 370,000 battery swaps per day.