Electric and smartscooters are coming to the Philippines starting next year! Thanks to partnerships between Globe's 917Ventures, Ayala Corp and Taiwanese company called Gogoro. What's even more nice about this collaboration is that the electric scooters that Gogoro will release in the country sport battery-swapping technology. You read that right. You can have a fully-charged battery in seconds by swapping the depleted one at Gogoro's battery stations.
Gogoro and its electric scooters offering with battery-swapping ecosystem is huge in Taiwan. The PR material provided by Globe Telecom says that currently there are over 11,000 battery swapping stations at more than 2,260 locations all over Taiwan. At the moment, over 1 million batteries are in circulation.
The said project will be piloting in Metro Manila in Q1 of 2023.
However, it appears that the Gogoro smartscooters will be initially introduced to logistics companies and businesses first, probably those owned by Ayala Corporations. Vince Yamat, 917Ventures Managing Director said,
"We are committed to help address the climate crisis by introducing Gogoro to logistics businesses, helping them in their sustainability efforts. In addition, because of the Swap & Go technology that enables riders to be fully charged in just seconds, we hope Gogoro will also help address hesitations surrounding charging electric vehicles and even finding parking slots. Hopefully, this technology will encourage more Filipinos to switch to EVs."
It is definitely a good news especially for the electric vehicle enthusiasts and for those who are promoting clean and sustainable energy use in the Philippines. In fact, this announcement just came days after the Philippine government approved the removal of import duties on electric vehicles and its parts for the next five years. This move is part of the Philippine Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act which was signed into law just this year.
Hopefully this will be a successful launch in the local market and one day will be extended to private and general consumers.
