Gogoro India unveils its locally built CrossOver e-scooter, lines up hefty investments for battery swapping ecosystem

(L-R) Gogoro's director of business development Abhinav Garg; founder & CEO Horace Luke; and senior director of engineering and operations Kanchan Singh

Taiwanese electric vehicle manufacturer Gogoro has unveiled the CrossOver, an adventure-style electric scooter that was unveiled globally in October this year. Positioned as its first locally made ‘smartscooter’, the CrossOver GX250 will have a claimed range of 111 km on a single charge. The company didn’t reveal the price of this model.

To be rolled out from its plant in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra, the battery-powered scooter will be available in three variants—CrossOver GX250, CrossOver 50 and CrossOver S. While the GX250 is available immediately, the CrossOver 50  and S are slated for rollout in 2024.

“Our products may not be the cheapest among our peers. They are  smart, powered by swappable batteries, and will be not offered with fixed battery options. There will be a (swapping) station that offers those services and there will be a cost to that. What we try to do is to maintain a price-performance ratio in our electric scooters,” said Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro, on the sidelines of unveiling its models.

Also Read: Taiwan’s Gogoro joins hands with Zypp Electric for battery swapping pilot service in India

Initially, it will be available to business-to-business (B2B) customers such as delivery fleet operators and bike taxis in Delhi and Goa, with plans for a Mumbai and Pune entry in the first half of 2024. By the second quarter of 2024, the e-scooter will also be sold for personal use. The company anticipates around 50 percent of its sales from fleet operators and half from personal buyers by 2028.

When queried on the key reasons to begin its operations with  B2B users, Luke said, “This is because we have to build both the network (of swapping stations) as well as the vehicles. Selling to fleets first will also enable us to scale swapping stations in a predictable manner and build a base load, making it a more viable business proposition. In the B2B space, the routes, whether dedicated or hub-and-spoke, are always fixed . When I stitch them together, it creates a network for the consumers.”

The Taiwanese EV maker claims that the CrossOver series is built on a “redesigned all-terrain frame” that enables “increased rigidity” and comfort while offering a variety of storage, riding, and “customisation capabilities”.

Banking on battery-swapping stations

Gogoro also announced the rollout of its battery-swapping ecosystem in India The company aims to establish 120 such stations across the country by mid-2024.

"We are at the cusp of a dramatic change in the global urban transportation landscape, and with its more than 250 million mopeds and motorcycles, India is well positioned to lead the shift to sustainable consumer and B2B transportation," Luke said in an official statement.

In Taiwan, the EV maker has spent $650-700 million to deploy 1.3 million batteries at its 12,000-13,000 battery swapping stations countrywide. In his view, “India is 24 times that of Taiwan in terms of volumes and, hence, the amount spent here will also be much higher.” However, he clarified that the company will not be deploying swapping stations at each and very location in the country.

Meanwhile, Gogoro reiterated that it has inked an agreement with the Maharashtra government in June this year to invest $1.5 billion over 10 years. Of that sum,  $500 million will be spent for vehicle manufacturing and $1 billion for battery swapping infrastructure including battery making facilities, swapping stations, etc.

“We aim to earmark India as our global manufacturing hub for electric two-wheelers and are planning to export them to worldwide markets. About 20 percent of the vehicles produced in the country will be exported to Nepal, and Southeast Asian and other markets.” Luke added.

Luke maintained that it is open to making a multi-billion dollar investment to establish a battery swapping infrastructure across India by 2032.

“We’ve invested tens of millions of dollars to set up our manufacturing plants and will continue to make fresh investments based on market demand,” Luke  added.