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Five months after announcing an agreement with two of China’s largest two-wheeled vehicle manufacturers, Gogoro officially launched there today, opening 45 battery exchange stations in Hangzhou. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Horace Luke, told TechCrunch he is targeting 80 stations by the end of the year, before expanding to other major cities with his partners, Yadea and Dachangjiang Group (DCJ).
In China, Gogoro’s battery swap technology will operate under the Huan Huan brand, a partnership between Gogoro, Yadea and DCJ.
Yadea and DCJ both develop vehicles using Gogoro’s battery swap technology, with Yadea now releasing two models for sale, from Hangzhou.
Companies expect consumer demand to be driven by government regulations for two-wheeled electric vehicles which (among other things) require the use of lithium batteries instead of lead-acid. It is estimated that 270 million vehicles that do not meet the new regulations will have to be taken out of service by 2025.
Gogoro announced last month that it would go public on the Nasdaq after a $ 2.35 billion SPAC deal with Poema Global that is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. In addition to its battery exchange network, Gogoro is also known for its own line of high-end two-wheeled scooters, but has agreements with other manufacturers to produce vehicles using its batteries and charging stations, including Yamaha, Suzuki and AeonMotor.
Its partnerships have been an important factor in increasing the accessibility of Gogoro’s technology, and the company also announced an agreement this year with Hero MotoCorp, the market leader in two-wheeled vehicles in India.
“We have always been considered as’ Gogoro is too premium, we are out of reach of the people who really matter in the big cities”, and with Yadea and DCJ, everyone is going to be able to ride and buy the vehicles, which will not be more expensive than previously sold mass vehicles, ”said Luke.
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