'Gogoro Smartscooter> an everyman priced Tesla EV you can't plug in'
http://full-timewhistle.com/technology-22/gogoro-unveiling-electric-scooter-with-battery-swapping-service-1984.html Gogoro Unveiling Electric Scooter With Battery-Swapping Service David JACKMAN / 05 January 2015 [image http://full-timewhistle.com/photo/content/detay/ps41-e1384595828164%20(1)(1).jpg (Battery) ] Taiwanese startup Gogoro is making news today after four years operating in stealth, revealing an electric scooter designed for commuters along with a ridiculously ambitious plan to power it. You don't plug the scooter in, like you would essentially any other electric vehicle in the world — instead, Gogoro has its sights set on user-swappable batt Last we heard of Gogoro, the mysterious startup was promising a new age of batteries for mobility in smart cities, and clutching a sheaf of patents to that effect: now, we know what it’s been working on. The Gogoro Smartscooter and its companion Gogoro Energy Network - essentially a city-wide infrastructure of charging stations for easily-swapped battery packs, offering up to 60 miles range - has been fully announced at CES 2015 today, but I caught up with the company ahead of time to find out why the founders think this is far, far broader than just urban transport. Gogoro is the brainchild of Horace Luke, formerly of HTC and Microsoft, along with CTO Matt Taylor. Set up in 2011, and recipient of $50m then and near to another $100m now, the company has created not only an electric scooter from scratch, but co-developed a system of interchangeable, NFC-enabled battery packs with Panasonic, and the hubs to recharge them. Riders buy the Smartscooter upfront - Gogoro is yet to confirm exactly how much that will cost - and at the same time sign up for a subscription for unlimited access to battery swaps and roadside assistance. Those swaps happen at GoStations, with each battery a stubby block with rounded edges. Inside each of those blocks is enough juice for les of riding, depending on style (Gogoro told me you’ll see the top end of that range if you ride at 25 mph, but it could halve if you push the scooter to 30 mph; obviously real-world conditions will vary). Gogoro’s aim is to have every GoStation within a square mile of its neighbor, in places you might expect like gas stations, parking lots, and even in convenience stores. This is no car battery, mind. Gogoro designed the casing, which only has two external contacts and can be slotted into the Smartscooter no matter which way it’s rotated. While it may be lacking in physical connections, it’s actually pretty smart: there’s NFC to communicate with the bike and the charger, as well as 25 different sensors. As you’d expect, there’s a link to your smartphone: in Gogoro’s case, that’s over a low-power Bluetooth connection, with the companion app acting as the unlock system and the ignition key. However, it’s also the scooter’s link to the Gogoro iQ System, in effect the network between charging infrastructure, individual riders, and more. Through the app, you can find the nearest GoStation - the scooter learns your riding style, and refines its estimates as to range and where your most convenient swap point it; you can reserve a battery in advance, so as not to be left dry when you get there - as well as customize the dashboard colors, the lock/unlock audio, and the lighting themes. It’s also where ride feel and throttle responsiveness can be adjusted. The Smartscooter itself is no off-the-shelf moped retrofitted to Gogoro’s purposes. In fact, it’s been designed by the company from the ground up, including power train, suspension, chassis, and all the electronics. Dubbed the G1, the motor is fluid cooled and puts out 8.58 HP and 18 lb-ft of torque; that might not seem a lot, but because the scooter is a mere 247 lbs unladen, and since all that torque is available from a standstill, it should be perky enough for the city. The figures bear that out: 0-31 mph in 4.2 seconds, and a max speed of 60 mph, and while I couldn't ride it myself, during a demo I was shown it's more than capable of burn-outs - Gogoro didn't want me to record that, but you can see the results below - and even makes an interestingly electric roar when you hit the "gas". The chassis uses an aluminum monocoque, and is paired with an aluminum inverted single shock single arm at the front and an aluminum multi-link suspension system at the back. Disc brakes are fitted front and back, and there’s an illuminated 0.85 cubic foot trunk with room for a full-sized helmet as well as a USB port for charging up a phone. It can be opened either with a button on the bike, or via the app. All of the lights are LEDs, from the headlights (using the same tech as in Audi’s R8 and the Mercedes-Benz CLS, no less) to the turn signals, taillights, and hazards; the Smartscooter automatically powers down when the kickstand is deployed. More interesting, though, are the sensors woven through the bike, of which the digital compass, gravity, shock, ambient light, and thermo sensors total thirty in all. Together they report on Smartscooter health and status, either through the smartphone connection every ten minutes, or whenever you swap a battery via the NFC link there. Should something require attention, the majority of the bodywork and other components are held on either magnetically or via a single screw, for easier access. Gogoro’s decisions have been carefully made, and while the Smartscooter may be a long way from its traditional forebears, it’s not to say it hasn’t learned from them. The most common scooter has a 120-125 cc engine, for instance, comprising around 80-percent of the market, and so that’s the sort of performance benchmark Gogoro had in mind. In fact, the EV power train is around 16-percent swifter than its gas equivalent. It’s also more willing to lean into the corners, balanced so that the driver’s head is at the pinnacle of a near-perfect triangle, and thus more stable as you tackle the corners. While I wasn’t able to ride it myself, Luke tells me one of the scooter’s primary goals was to deliver fun handling, even if you’re doing city speeds. There are some other considered touches, too. The lights automatically turn on when it gets dark, and then dim when the Smartscooter is at a stop; they’re passively cooled and super-low power, too, to make the least possible impact on the battery pack. It’s the most weatherproof scooter in the industry, too, and so while you might still get wet, at least you’ll make it into work. Gogoro’s ambitions don’t end with two wheels. A four-door vehicle isn’t out of the question, Luke told me, and since everything is modular, it wouldn’t take much for the company to scale up to a city car. A single battery could also power the average house for an hour, or run a home furnace for an extended evening. Those with more technical demands could potentially power a forty server rack for 20 minutes, or a single laptop for 25 hours. “The world is changing,” Luke concluded, pointing out that as so-called “mega cities” snowball, eventually 3-in-5 people will end up living in them. Of the 12-percent of household income currently spent on energy-related expenses, nearly half of that is gasoline, he pointed out, and while Tesla may be doing interesting things, the cars the darling of Silicon Valley makes are only really relevant to 1-percent of the population. Gogoro’s success or failure hinges on a number of factors, all of them challenging. Most obvious is the price: the company is yet to announce just how much the Smartscooter or its companion battery subscription will cost, with Luke committing only to a launch sometime, somewhere, this year. GoStation infrastructure is another significant issue, and how well Gogoro manages potentially having too many batteries returned to one location and yet not enough to another. Range anxiety is just as applicable when your EV is a scooter as it is when you’re driving a car, and Smartscooter owners will need to be convinced that they can get access to energy when they need it, without having to go too far out of their way. Then there's what to do as those batteries pile up. Each takes around 1-1.5 hours to recharge, and has a roughly 2,000 cycle recharge life; however, that's only using around 30-percent of their capacity. The remaining 70-percent - less efficiently delivered, perhaps - is being earmarked for powering homes, data servers, or other applications. First impressions are good. The Smartscooter looks great, a solid mixture of space-age and retro styling, and the battery swapping mechanism is certainly easy to do. Gogoro claims six seconds is all it takes, and I can certainly believe that. If the price, power availability, and launch locations are right, Gogoro could find itself with a fledgling hit on its hands, though it’s too soon - and there are too many pieces missing - to say that for sure today. [© full-timewhistle.com] http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/05/gogoro-smart-scooter/ Former HTC execs unveil smart scooter with swappable batteries by Nicole Lee | [2015/01/05] [images http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/9ab9ada68db48b5734af9c4b09f173fa/201331877/Gogoro+Family+Shot.jpg http://www.engadget.com/gallery/gogoro-smartscooter-and-battery-hands-on Gallery | 11 Photos Gogoro SmartScooter and Battery hands-on http://www.engadget.com/gallery/gogoro Gallery | 18 Photos Gogoro SmartScooter http://www.engadget.com/gallery/gogoro-gostation Gallery | 5 Photos Gogoro GoStation and Battery http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/b9fc5f9810a89ca41c6fd7500061d6a9/201331881/gogoro02.jpg http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/cc0b7fe2b80d371a947e8bedaef4036f/201332013/Gogoro_mobileapp_iOS.jpg http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/c18912b0f2424e9d77ee393d18f001b8/201331938/Gogoro-ExtremeLean.jpg http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/3dcf48d82d24fb8c2d0fdf3a31b34edc/201331960/gogoro03.jpg video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DG8h8fs8Jw Smartscooter Intro: A Ride Like No Other Gogoro Jan 5, 2015 ] One of the biggest barriers to owning an electric vehicle is that you have to charge it, often for hours, before taking it for a spin. But what if you could swap out its depleted battery for a fully charged one in seconds? And what if those batteries were in plentiful supply throughout the city? And what if, on top of that, the vehicle in question was a high-powered, cloud-connected electric scooter that told you, among other things, exactly when you should go and swap them out? That's exactly what today's big announcement is from Gogoro, a new effort by a couple of ex-HTC executives -- former Chief Innovation Officer Horace Luke and former Chief Technologist Matthew Taylor -- both of whom were responsible for some of HTC's most groundbreaking products in the past few years. With Gogoro, however, Luke and Taylor's focus is not on phones, but on implementing smarter energy consumption in large cities. And its plans include transforming the urban transport landscape as we know it. There are essentially two components to today's Gogoro launch: a sleek two-wheeled vehicle that the company built from the ground up, called the Gogoro SmartScooter, plus an entirely new battery-swapping infrastructure simply called the Gogoro Energy Network. Think of the latter as an interconnected citywide system of battery vending machines -- called GoStations -- where you can drop in your spent batteries and exchange them for freshly charged ones. Of course, the idea of hot-swappable EV batteries isn't entirely new, but Gogoro's effort is focusing on scooters. Additionally, these aren't any ordinary batteries either. The Gogoro Battery is designed to be highly modular, complete with a helpful handle at the top for easy portability. Created in partnership with Panasonic, the lithium-ion battery has supposedly 25 different sensors, NFC connectivity, plus 256-bit security encryption so that only those authorized can use them. Here's how the whole thing works. First, you'll buy the SmartScooter, which is specially designed to use two of the Gogoro batteries -- simply lift up the seat to access them. With the purchase of the scooter, you'll also have to sign up for a subscription plan to the Gogoro Energy Network. You'll then get an accompanying app for both Android and iOS that not only tells you interesting diagnostics about your scooter, but also gives you the power of adaptive throttle control, customized regenerative braking and the ability to track ride details like top speed and range (we'll get into more detail on the SmartScooter later). You can also do things like change the color of the dashboard and alter the lock-and-unlock audio and lighting themes. Importantly, the app also lets you know when you should go exchange your batteries if you're running low. It'll then let you know where your closest GoStation is with available batteries. From there you can just go to the station and exchange them, or you can make doubly sure you can get some by reserving them in advance with the app. When you get there, simply tag in and swap them out. Luke tells us that a GoStation will always have at least two slots free. I had a chance to try out a prototype model of this, and while the batteries are quite heavy -- I could only carry one at a time -- it seemed easy enough to swap. Simply slot them in the appropriate compartments and you're good to go. The whole process, according to Gogoro, should ideally just take six seconds. "We started in 2011, right from the get-go," says Luke on Gogoro's origins. Both Luke and Taylor came up with the idea of creating a company around smarter energy consumption when the two were traveling around the world in their previous jobs. They saw how population density affected people's lives around the world, and thought they needed to come up with potential solutions for the resulting pollution. "We looked at how people spent the most amount of money -- it's not in your cable bill or your electricity. It's in your gasoline and fuel." he says. "We all came from the smartphone space, so we know we would focus on the end consumer. Let's change that first. Let's focus on consumer products first." "If you look at EV deployment around the world today, most of it is in the 1 percentile," Luke says, referring to Tesla's current niche slice of the market. "If we want EV to make a big impact, we need to bring it to mass market. The price point needs to be lower, broader." Further, Luke says that in so-called mega cities, it's becoming increasingly challenging to find a parking spot constant enough to let you charge a battery for several hours. "This was a great opportunity to address EVs from a mass-market perspective." As for why scooters? "There are 200 million scooters around the world. That's a lot more than cars." He also pointed out Asian markets like Taiwan and Vietnam, where scooter usage is very strong. That's all well and good, but why bother creating the SmartScooter entirely from scratch? Why not just modify an existing one? "Matt and I looked at different ways to create breakthrough performances and efficiency, but there wasn't anything out here that satisfied us," says Luke. "It's great, because it gives us this opportunity. But it's also bad because it means we have to do everything ourselves!" Indeed, Gogoro spared no expense in coming up with what the company calls the "world's first high-performance, zero-emissions, two-wheeled electric vehicle." The team designed the scooter themselves, and while they did rely on certain partners like Panasonic for the batteries and Maxxis for the tires, they committed to manufacturing most of the scooter themselves too, with high-quality components throughout. "We actually use Philips LED diodes in our headlights. It's 100 percent LED," says Luke, adding that he believes this makes the SmartScooter the first scooter in the world to have 100 percent LED lights. "It's the same LED diode in the Audi R8 and the BMW 7 series. ... We save every tiny bit of energy into moving the vehicle itself." The result is perhaps one of the most luxurious and tricked out scooters I've ever seen. Not only does it look pretty, with curved lines and blinged-out dashboard, but also the SmartScooter also boasts some impressive internals. We're talking an aluminum, fluid-cooled, permanent-magnet synchronous motor with a max power output of 6,400 watts at 4,000 rpm and a max horsepower of 8.58 hp at 4,000 rpm, the ability to accelerate from zero to 31MPH in 4.2 seconds and a max speed of 60MPH. Sure, you probably won't be able to take this on the freeway, but rounding tight street corners won't be a problem with its 45-degree max left lean angle and 48.5-degree max right lean angle. Gogoro also claims that the scooter's frame is made from an ultra lightweight and strong monocoque chassis made out of racing-grade aluminum and that its suspension is "inspired by jet fighter landing gear." Unfortunately, a lot of this remains unverified as we were unable to ride it around ourselves, but it does at least look impressive on paper. It also has a whole host of sensors under the hood that include gravity and shock sensors, a digital compass, an ambient light sensor and multiple thermo sensors. And of course, it's got built-in Bluetooth to communicate with the app we mentioned earlier. As far as range is concerned, we're told that if you travel at a constant 25MPH, you'll get about 60 miles out of the SmartScooter. A little faster, and the range will drop; a little slower, and that range will increase. Here are the full details of the vehicle if you want to fully nerd out about the SmartScooter's insides. With such an impressive list of components, you'd expect the SmartScooter to be expensive. But while Luke wouldn't tell us the price of the vehicle just yet, he said that it wouldn't be. The reason? It's because you're not buying the batteries, which typically make up the bulk of the cost of an electric vehicle; the subscription plan idea offsets that. But what if you want to buy the scooter outright? Well, you can't. The whole idea behind Gogoro is that you need to really adopt the whole system in order for it to work. That might be a tough pill to swallow, especially if you're not convinced that there'll be enough GoStations to, well, go around. But Luke assures us that if and when they roll out the scooters, the GoStations will be in place. He won't tell us which cities he's targeting just yet, but he says that deploying these GoStations should be pretty easy. "All we need are buildings with power. We can just load these machines up on a truck and plug them in." Oh, and the SmartScooter is just the beginning. Luke says that it's only the first of several products the company is working on. When I asked if we'll ever see a car, he said that was a distinct possibility, though it's focused on just a scooter for now. "Think about how your father's stereo system connected to the wall," Luke says. "Right now, the EV is connected to the wall. It's not really portable. You still have to return home to charge. What we're doing, is what AA batteries did to the Walkman. That's how big the game can be changed." [© engadget.com] http://www.cnet.com/pictures/gogoro-tries-to-bring-the-sexy-back-with-its-smartscooter/ Gogoro tries to bring the sexy back with its Smartscooter [images http://www.cnet.com/pictures/gogoro-tries-to-bring-the-sexy-back-with-its-smartscooter/1/ The start-up, founded by former HTC executives, believes the scooter is the start of a new way for big cities to utilize power. January 5, 2015 by: Gogoro / Caption by: Roger Cheng ] Meet Gogoro's Smartscooter Gogoro's first product is the battery-powered Smartscooter, designed with the same kind of principles that led to the creation of sleek HTC phones. [© CBS Interactive] ... https://bgr.com/2015/01/05/gogoro-smartscooter-and-gostation/ Video: Meet SmartScooter, the Tesla of scooters [image / Gogoro https://i0.wp.com/boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/gogoro-smartscooter-2.jpg By Chris Smith on Jan 5, 2015 ] [© 2015 BGR] ... http://www.tomsguide.com/us/gogoro-smartscooter-preview,news-20129.html Go Green with Futuristic Gogoro Smartscooter By Jill Scharr January 5, 2015 [© 2015 A Purch] http://www.modernreaders.com/meet-gogoro-smartscooter-a-different-kind-of-electric-vehicle/17858/mark-kesler Gogoro Smartscooter Has Arrived – A Different Kind of Electric Vehicle January 5, 2015 By Mark Kesler [image c/o SlashGear http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/hk/QL_i6W2ETW0tLKqugj_EKqrj3q/www.modernreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/820x420x0105-Gogoro.jpg.pagespeed.ic.eilPa_6NFJEUId8Dk4_0.jpg Meet Gogoro Smartscooter - A Different Kind of Electric Vehicle ] Although Gogoro had raised a total of $150 million in two separate campaigns, one in 2011 and one in 2014, few people had any clue about what the startup company was about. And now we know – Gogoro’s debut product is called the Smartscooter, and it’s an electric scooter that offers a new twist to the world of electric vehicles. Prior to the company’s big reveal at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Gogoro had made some cryptic teases, including promises of an energy-related product that would usher in the “new age of batteries.” It was also known that the company co-founded by former HTC Chief Innovation Officer Horace Luke, and that much of the $150 million raised was courtesy of HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang. But now that we know what type of product Gogoro was cooking up, we can say that it’s quite interesting; its features include interchangeable battery packs which were co-developed with Panasonic, and NFC support through those battery packs. The scooter’s batteries should allow for a 30-60 mile range per charge, depending on riding style; in an interview with SlashGear, Gogoro officials said that riding at a generous 25 mph would allow for the upside in mileage, while kicking things up a notch to 30 mph could potentially half the Smartscooter’s range. Other details regarding the Gogoro Smartscooter include a low-power Bluetooth connection that serves as the vehicle’s ignition, as well as a link to the Gogoro iQ System, which SlashGear describes as the “network between the charging infrastructure, individual riders, and more.” Gogoro also announced today a battery swapping network of “GoStation” hubs, which may arguably be the company’s main product, as it stands to be capable of powering more than just Smartscooters, but also mobile devices and other consumer electronics items. Pricing has not yet been announced, but Gogoro explained the mechanics of buying a Smartscooter and performing battery swaps; customers would pay for the vehicle upfront, and also subscribe to unlimited battery swaps and roadside assistance via the GoStation network. [© modernreaders.com] ... http://www.slashgear.com/gogoro-smartscooter-is-tesla-for-the-everyman-05362021/ Gogoro Smartscooter is Tesla for the everyman Jan 5, 2015 Vincent Nguyen [images http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PC111372-Gogoro.jpg (handlebar display) Gogoro Smartscooter http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PC111361-Gogoro.jpg (raised seat, two packs, storage) http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Gogoro_mobileapp_iOS.jpg Gogoro_mobileapp_iOS http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PC111426-Gogoro.jpg (rear drive) http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PC111374-Gogoro.jpg (handlebar switches) ... [many more images] ] [© slashgear.com/] ... http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7484171/gogoro-smartscooter-electric-scooter-removeable-battery Meet Gogoro, the outrageous electric scooter of the future By Chris Ziegler January 5, 2015 [video flash] For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble+template%2FNamlServlet.jtp%3Fmacro%3Dsearch_page%26node%3D413529%26query%3DEVLN%2Bbrucedp2%26days%3D0%26sort%3Ddate http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20141231000104&cid=1102 Foxconn/Hon-Hai.tw buys Harmony-Auto.cn to break into EV market http://www.thedestinlog.com/community/electric-car-charger-stations-now-at-destin-commons-1.420003 Two L2 EVSE @Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl & Grill +Bowling Destin Commons FL http://www.yelp.com/biz/uncle-bucks-fish-bowl-and-grill-destin ... http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/53778 + EVLN: Munro's i3 EV deep-dive/chop/tear-down to reveal its secrets {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-gogoro-com-Pack-Swap-G1-Smartscooter-tw-ts-60mph-0-31mph-4-2s-v-tp4673361.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
