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Gogoro, renowned electric-motorcycle brand in Taiwan, has allied with YAMAHA of Japan in R&D on a new electric-motorcycle model, scheduled for rollout in summer 2019, which will be marketed under YAMAHA brand utilizing the battery charging and swap network of Gogoro.
The alliance will give a strong boost to Gogoro's battery-swap system, whose service can even be extended to other markets of the world, under the assistance of YAMAHA. It will also pose a major threat to Gogoro's two major local rivals, KYMCO and SYM, the later having yet to decide the battery charging and swap system for its electric motorcycles.
According to data released by the two companies, the cooperative project covers the development of electric motorcycle, outsourced manufacturing, and the use of battery charging and swap system, for which the duo will sign a contract by the end of this year. The new electric motorcycle, which will bear YAMAHA brand, will be designed on the basis of existing Gogoro models on the market and will be manufactured by Gogoro. It will be moved via YAMAMA's local sales channels.
The cooperation has been bridged by Sumitomo Corp., which is a business partner of both.
Entering Taiwan in 1996, YAMAHA has become a major motorcycle-brand on the local market, with 2017 sales reaching 290,000 units, on top of manufacturing and selling E-VINO electric motorcycles, which are also exported to Japan. YAMAHA has set up YAMAHA Motor R&D Taiwan, for the development of Scooter for the local market.
With inception in 2015, Gogoro has established 750 battery-swap stations, which will rise to over 1,000 in early 2019, on top of having carryied out over 17 million times of battery swaps for its motorcycles up to now.
"The cooperation with Taiwan's Gogoro will not only provide more options to customers for vehicles but also pose a challenge to the market of new vehicles and services, via the common advanced battery swap system," remarked Takuya Kinoshita, chief general manager of motorcycle business operations, YAMAHA Motor Co., Ltd.
Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro, pointed out that "The cooperation with YAMAHA marks a critical step forward in materializing our vision of making Gogoro an open energy platform and contributing to the development of major smart cities via the setup of energy networks."
(Collaborative media: TechNews, first photo courtesy of Gogoro)