After proving the strength of its battery-swapping system, scooters, and technology in Taiwan, Gogoro is taking the show on the road. In April, 2021, the electric scooter specialist announced a team up with India’s Hero MotoCorp. Under that partnership, Gogoro’s battery swapping technology will help build up India’s electric infrastructure, and Hero and Gogoro will build scooters that use the Powered by Gogoro Network to get more riders on board with electrifying their lives. 

When Gogoro and Hero made that announcement, it was only regarding the Indian market. However, since Hero also has footholds in several additional markets across Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, we speculated at the time that it would be interesting to see if the plan goes further than that. In June, 2021, Gogoro just gave us a broader picture with its most recent announcement, which is pretty significant. 

On June 23, 2021, Gogoro announced that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwanese electronics juggernaut Foxconn. As strategic partners, the two plan to work together “to accelerate Gogoro’s global expansion.” There’s more to it than that, of course, but that’s how it’s actually phrased in the press release. It turns out we weren’t just being hyperbolic with our earlier speculation; Gogoro really does have designs on electrifying mobility everywhere it possibly can. 

“As the Gogoro ecosystem continues establishing itself as the industry leader in battery swapping and urban refueling, our ability to rapidly scale our manufacturing to meet global demands is vital,” Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke said in a statement. 

“Foxconn’s global manufacturing leadership, focus on new innovative technologies and commitment to sustainable electric transportation made it the perfect fit for Gogoro. Together, our companies will be on the forefront of rolling out smart mobility solutions in cities around the world,” he continued. 

What does this mean? To start with, the two companies plan to collaborate on multiple areas, including smart batteries, vehicle engineering, and manufacturing—basically, all the things that probably come to mind when you think of an electric scooter network. While Foxconn is currently the biggest electronics company in the world, making components for many of the items we all use every day, this is its first foray into electric two-wheeled vehicles. It’s already a presence in the electric car niche, however.  

For those unfamiliar, Foxconn first got its start back in 1974, when Foxconn chairman Terry Gou founded the company with the help of a loan from his mother. At first, the company made knobs for TVs, later expanding to make electrical connectors for companies including IBM and Atari, and only continuing to grow and expand its component offerings and partnerships in the ensuing decades. Foxconn’s presence is global, even if it’s not a household name on its own. If you have an iPhone, Foxconn was part of it.  

“As the world embraces smart electric transportation in new ways, a key challenge is how to introduce these new innovative options to people in every corner of the world. The Foxconn -Gogoro partnership was established to meet this demand,” said Foxconn chairman Young Liu. 

“This partnership brings together Gogoro’s global leadership in urban battery swapping and smart vehicle technologies with Foxconn’s extensive global manufacturing capabilities to enable mass distribution of Gogoro’s smart battery swapping ecosystem and vehicles,” Liu concluded. 

We look forward to seeing Gogoro scooters bring a little more electric color to our everyday lives around the world. As and when we know more about the specifics in different markets, we will of course let you know. 

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