$150M-Funded Startup Gogoro to Release Futuristic Electric Scooter with App

With over 70% of the world’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, it is imperative that the world establish reliable emissions-free transportation as the norm. One company that strives towards this goal is Gogoro, and with $150 million USD in funding already under its belt, it has unveiled an electric scooter prototype with a 62-mile range and an ability to accelerate from 0 to 35 mph in 4 seconds. Featuring an aluminum frame and a liquid-cooled electric motor, the Smartscooter incorporates 30 different sensors that analyze shock, temperature, riding patterns and energy use, all of which is relayed to a smartphone app to optimize performance. Using lithium ion batteries, the scooter automatically notifies the driver when they need swapping at an ATM-sized battery station within the Gogoro Energy Network – dense enough so that no rider is more than 0.8 miles from any station.

At a cost of $10,000 per station — a fraction of the $500,000 cost of an electric car-charging station — the battery stations would provide rider-specific information upon swapping, in a process taking no more than six seconds. After five years of use and about 500 cycles later, batteries would be repurposed as cheap power sources for businesses and residences. Scooters would be bought upfront at full cost while batteries will be leased at a recurring fee, similar to a cell phone plan’s structure, with the scooters and the associated batteries, stations and software all being manufactured by Gogoro. Watch the video above for a glimpse of the future of transportation, and look for Gogoro’s upcoming announcement for its first partner cities later this year.