Gogoro electric scooters in Israel: what's the deal?

Metro launches the Gogoro electric scooter in Israel.

The concept: buying only a scooter, and a fixed payment for the use of the batteries.

but there is a catch

Joel Schwartz

11/09/2022

Sunday, September 11, 2022, 17:43 Updated: 17:49

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Gogoro scooters seek to bring about a revolution in the way two-wheeled vehicle maintenance is viewed (Photo: Or Gefen)

The Gogoro brand was established in 2011, in Taiwan, among other things, at the urging of Al Gore, the former vice president of the United States who then launched the first models of the brand at the CES exhibition in 2015, and also led to an investment in the company.

Currently, the brand has several series of electric scooters with a range of 85 to 170 km, when all are equipped with one or two removable batteries weighing 6 kg each. The activity began in Taiwan, continued in several other countries in Asia (India for example) and has already accumulated 400,000 sales. Just before the invasion of Europe, the brand arrives in Israel via 'Metro Motor', Importer of Yamaha, Sun Yang, Kawasaki and other brands.

Two batteries and space for a full helmet under the seat (Photo: Or Gefen)

In the first phase, marketing of a pair of tools will begin, from Series 2, which is equivalent in performance to a 125 cc scooter. The basic version is called plus 2 with an electric motor that produces 8.5 hp (6.4 kW), acceleration from 0 to 50 in 4.2 seconds and a maximum speed of 90 km/h. The official range is 170 km.

In practice, in the measurements made in Israel, the importer claims a range of 80-130 km. The model is offered in two colors to choose from: gray or white. Price: NIS 17,000.

The second model from this series is called S2 ABS, offering a more powerful electric motor with 9.5 hp (7.2 kW), and slightly faster performance with 3.8 seconds from standing to 50 km/h and a maximum speed of 95 km/h.

Both scooters use the same batteries with a capacity of 1.5 kW/hour, so the travel range is the same: officially 170 km, in practice between 80 and 130 km according to the measurements of the importer's personnel.

Here, too, there are two colors to choose from: graffiti gray or spectrum indigo.

The price is NIS 20,000.

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They will offer a quick battery replacement service at Paz stations (Photo: Or Gefen)

Both scooters offer a digital dashboard, a respectable 25-liter trunk that will hold a complete helmet, and the top version also has a USB socket.

In addition, the two offer two unusual items in scooters: a reverse gear to assist in tight maneuvering and drive by chain rather than belt.

The scooter prices listed here are for the purchase of the scooter itself, but not for the battery.

In this way, the people of the importer hope to get rid of some concerns regarding an electric scooter such as, where and how to charge and what will happen to the value of the scooter when the battery capacity decreases over the years.

The idea is to use exchange stations (who said Better Place?), where the rider will arrive with the scooter and in seconds will replace the two empty batteries they have with two new ones.

In doing so, the importer also guarantees to itself, a measured discharge and charge, to optimally preserve the life of each battery.

For the purpose of deploying the exchange stations, a collaboration was carried out with the Paz company, and now 9 exchange points are offered at Paz stations in Tel Aviv and in another 2 branches of Metro Motor in Tel Aviv. In the future, the deployment of the exchange stations will be expanded to other areas. According to the importer, the tracks have electronic components that monitor its function This means that batteries cannot be changed between scooters, batteries cannot be charged at home and if a scooter is stolen, the batteries cannot be removed to continue the journey.

On the face of it, the model guarantees that the customer will not absorb the decrease in battery capacity (photo: manufacturer)

The payment for the replacement of the batteries will be made through a subscription at a price of NIS 129 for 870 amp/hours, which provide a driving range of about 1000 km per month. According to the importer's calculations, a 125 cc scooter that travels a similar monthly distance will pay 40% more just for The fuel, and this is given the price of NIS 7 per liter.

Together with reduced insurance prices for electric scooters, significantly cheaper treatment prices and also lower energy prices (electricity vs. gasoline), a big savings concept in the monthly cost.

With this savings, the importer plans to appeal to the public in Gush Dan with an emphasis on Tel Aviv (currently due to the nature of the layout of the exchange stations), students, small businesses and private customers who get around on scooters.

Final drive by means of a chain and there is even a reverse (Photo: Or Gefen)

However, this model raises some basic questions about its relevance and the viability of the deal as a whole.

First, the market already offers a number of small electric scooters such as those from Piaggio and NIU, although they fall short of the Gogoro in terms of performance and range, they will perform the urban tasks in a similar way, but their prices are not far from those of the new scooter and include the cost of the battery.

That is, if the purchase of the scooter does not include the batteries, where is the significant savings in its purchase price?

Another issue is the "chaining" to the charging route, even though it allows battery replacement within minutes, it does not allow home charging for those who can afford it.

Given a battery size of about 3 kWh, the domestic charging rate should be between NIS 1.5 and 2, if these are enough for 130 km, it turns out that the cost per 1,000 km at a domestic rate would be at most NIS 16, That is, significantly lower than the monthly rate and by a significant margin.

How many customers will find the convenience offered by the battery replacement format a service worth the difference?

It is not clear.

A third point that raises questions about this plan concerns those 1,000 km per month. According to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, the annual travel of two-wheeled vehicles is about 7,500 km and when it comes to an urban scooter, the number for the private user is lower.

On the other hand, the heavy business user who does many more kilometers than those 1,000 km has an additional cost of 9 cents for every additional 1.5 km.

So it was expected to see the importer offer at least three routes according to the expected journey of the customer instead of the same threshold of 1,000 km per month.

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• Metro

• scooter

• Two-wheeler

• electric car