Gogoro
Smartscooter
Electric
scooters aren’t the new. But what has been generally seen till this point are
two-wheelers that are slow, cumbersome and have a very short range, making the
riders wait decades before they can charge and get back on the roads, the
Gogoro Smartscooter changes all that.
Gogoro
is the brainchild of one Horace Luke, formerly an HTC and Microsoft employee
and CTO Matt Taylor. The project started in 2011, quickly receiving a US$ 50
million in funding for its powerful idea, followed by another US$ 100 million. This
just tells you how capable the scooter would be, even before reading anything
about it.
The
all-LED instrument cluster can be customised from the Gogoro’s smartphone app
So,
what is the Gogoro ? Put it simply, it is an electric scooter that offers total
connectivity, performance and control while at the same time offering a simple
solution to always keep you on the roads.
The
Gogoro design is where all the uniqueness starts. The rounded-from-everywhere
gives the scooter an space-age yet retro look which is more leaned towards
space age with its oval front LED headlights (reminds of Bender’s mouth from
Futurama) and a full LED instrument cluster. Inside, the Gogoro features two
removable battery packs that are NFC enabled and can be swapped in a jiffy with
fully-charged batteries at the company’s Gogoro Engery Network hubs that would
be installed throughout the city within seconds, and off you are again for
another 60 miles of juice (each battery pack is good for 30 miles).
Drained
batteries can be quickly swapped at the Gogoro Energy Network stations for
fresh charged ones
Adding
to the convenience is Gogoro’s smartphone application that connects with the
scooter via a low-powered bluetooth connection and enables the user to unlock
the vehicle and provide ignition additional to the battery information, parking
location and lots more. From the app, the colour of the Gogoro instrument
cluster can be changed to the desired colour too.
While
in general, electric scooters are quite slow, the Gogoro hones a powerful 8.58
bhp motor that produces 24 Nm of torque, which Gogoro claims is much faster
than any 125 cc internal combustion equivalent scooter. With a 4.2 seconds 0-50
kmph the scooter will be quite a peppy performer.
While
prices and exact launch dates are yet to be announced for the Gogoro
Smartscooter, its purchase would come with an battery subscription model, which
will allow users to swap the drained batteries at their Gogoro Energy Network
stations for fresh fully-charged ones anywhere in the city, and soon across the
country.
Source
: motorcyclefeed
