Gogoro, a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, has announced a strategic initiative and partnership with Zypp Electric, India’s leading electric vehicle (EV)-as-a-Service platform. Together, the companies are focused on accelerating the urban shift of logistics fleets and last mile deliveries to electric using battery swapping.
Horace Luke, founder, chairman and CEO of Gogoro, said: “We are seeing an incredible global transformation of urban transportation and energy systems to smarter, cleaner, and safer electric power, and there is nowhere it will benefit more than India.
“With more than 350 million battery swaps to date, Gogoro is introducing its advanced battery swapping platform in India to establish a new generation of electric two-wheel transportation that is proven, safe, and reliable.
“Today, we are announcing a strategic partnership with Zypp Electric, India’s leading EV-as-a-Service platform, to launch a B2B pilot that will enable last-mile delivery fleets to begin to adopt sustainable energy and transform their businesses for the future using Gogoro battery swapping.”
The Gogoro ecosystem offers businesses a path forward that is safe, sustainable, proven and easily scalable. Last-mile delivery fleets require a sustainable solution that not only achieves the best alternative to petrol or diesel-powered vehicles but is well suited to the specific segment needs of the delivery industry.
The Gogoro platform delivers a sophisticated two-wheel battery swapping system that enables delivery operators to manage their fleets and deliveries more efficiently and sustainably. Gogoro expects to launch its business-to-business (B2B) pilot with Zypp Electric in Delhi in December 2022 and be deployed to multiple fleet operators to support last-mile fulfilment, e-commerce and hyper-local deliveries.
Gogoro Network
At the heart of Gogoro’s ecosystem is the Gogoro Network. This open and interoperable battery swapping platform that was recognised in 2021 by Guidehouse Insights as the leading battery swapping platform for lightweight urban vehicles in the world.
Gogoro Network is a new generation of swappable battery refuelling that is smart, safe and continually optimising itself to be dynamic and versatile for riders, businesses and communities.
With more than a half million riders and nearly 11,000 battery swapping GoStations at over 2,240 locations, Gogoro Network hosts more than 370,000 daily battery swaps with more than 350 million total battery swaps to date.
Akash Gupta, Zypp Electric CEO and co-founder, said: “Climate change and rising pollution are a major global concern and many world leaders are committed to bringing a change with revolutionary measures that perfectly align with our vision at Zypp Electric.
“We are super excited to partner with Gogoro, a like-minded global EV player stepping into the Indian market and decarbonizing Indian last-mile deliveries with Gogoro’s state-of-the-art battery swapping platform that is proven at scale to be safe, easy for riders to use, easy to deploy in cities and open to all businesses.
“We expect this partnership to set an example for how a network of battery swapping stations and EVs will create a robust EV ecosystem towards solving the last mile problem efficiently across the country.”
India Establishes New Two-Wheel EV Standards
The Indian government is taking a proactive approach to establishing a new benchmark for electric vehicle safety. This includes new standards and requirements for vehicles, batteries and charging and battery swapping systems. The new standards are designed to ensure India is on par with global EV standards moving forward.
Kaushik Burman, Gogoro general manager of India, said: “Today’s strategic initiative and partnership with Zypp is a first step in validating and demonstrating Gogoro’s proven leadership in battery swapping while also learning from local businesses and riders.
“Gogoro is a founding member of the Indian Battery Swapping Association (IBSA), and we are collaborating with multiple industry partners and regulatory authorities to contribute to a better India. Gogoro has been working to secure all of the relevant certifications for its batteries and battery swapping stations.”
Shoonya Zero-Pollution Mobility Campaign
Gogoro supports the Shoonya — Zero-Pollution Mobility public awareness campaign that is shepherded by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), India’s public policy think tank.
The Shoonya — Zero-Pollution Mobility campaign promotes the use of EVs for urban deliveries and ride-hailing. The Shoonya campaign plans to revolutionise the transport sector with a radical and urgent transition to zero-emission vehicles.
The campaign has three core components including its corporate brand program, a consumer awareness drive and a resource kit for EV users.
India Battery Swapping Association (IBSA)
IBSA is an industry association formed by the leading battery swapping players in India to provide cohesive views and technical input to the government and public on battery swapping. Gogoro is one of the founding members of IBSA.
In its short period of existence, IBSA has made significant contributions in the form of inputs to India’s upcoming Battery Swapping Policy and Standards making at BIS. Gogoro has appointed Kaushik Burman as general manager of India for Gogoro.
Burman previously led Gogoro’s global expansion and before this was a general manager at Shell in Europe and Asia. Burman is an experienced business leader with a broad range of experience across leadership roles in Europe, North America and Asia. His sector experience ranges from transport, energy and fintech verticals – with a focus on leading profit and loss (P&L) and driving innovation.
This new partnership is good news for both Gogoro and Zypp Electric but most importantly for India, especially as the country move towards a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future. This battery swapping collaboration makes perfect sense to keep drivers on the road in a sustainable manner.
