Taiwan, Ayala team up for Smartscooter

We are committed to helping address the climate crisis by introducing Gogoro to logistics businesses

Expect the scooter market to further tighten next year as two units of the Ayala Group tapped Taiwanese ridesharing company Gogororo to bring the Smartscooter, a two-wheel electric vehicle with battery-swapping technology, into the country early next year.

Globe’s 917Ventures and Ayala Corporation said Wednesday that Gogoro’s Smartscooters will launch in the country in the first quarter of 2023 to provide an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel-powered vehicles used by the logistics and last-mile delivery industry.

The Smartscooters are powered by Gogoro’s battery-swapping platform through switch stations, where users can quickly swap depleted batteries for fully-charged ones in seconds.

According to 917Ventures managing director Vince Yamat, the partnership will reduce the fossil fuel consumption of the domestic logistics industry.

“We are committed to helping address the climate crisis by introducing Gogoro to logistics businesses, helping them in their sustainability efforts. In addition, the Swap & Go technology enables riders to be fully charged in just seconds,” Yamat said.

Boost to e-vehicle trend

“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 electric vehicles,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ayala Corp. Head of Business Development and Innovation Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala said: “Ayala supports the Department of Energy’s thrust to transition towards cleaner technologies.We are excited to contribute to a high-quality consortium focused on enhancing mobility through sustainable solutions, which aligns with our broader decarbonization and digital transformation ambitions.”

In Taiwan, Gogoro currently has over 11,000 battery-swapping stations at more than 2,260 locations. The Gogoro Network has more than 520,000 riders performing more than 370,000 battery swaps per day.

The Philippines targets to increase the contribution of clean and renewable energy in its power generation mix to 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

Ayala supports the Department of Energy’s thrust to transition towards cleaner technologies.