

Taiwanese startup Gogoro reveals an electric scooter designed for commuters - cryptoz
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/5/7484171/gogoro-smartscooter-electric-scooter-removeable-battery

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bryanlarsen
This doesn't make any sense to me. Nobody ever drives more than 30 miles in
one direction on a scooter, so plugging it in overnight would be a lot more
convenient than driving to a swap station. Sure, it might only take 6 seconds
to swap a battery, but even if the swap station is really close by, driving
there every day will get old really fast.

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jamra
When I travelled in Vietnam, they have drive-thru gas stations that are built
for motor scooters. Cars seem awkward there. It would fit perfectly in a place
like that. The general population is very poor. Motor scooters are parked
outside. Having access to an electric cable doesn't work for most people. They
live in apartments.

Going to a government run gas station and having the attendant swap a battery
for you is the easiest way to make this work.

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CookWithMe
Yep, been travelling through SE-Asia for the last 3 months. Loads of scooters
here and they're parked anywhere on the street or sidewalks. Even if you'd
theoretically get a power outlet from an apartment onto the street, there
would be no way of controlling who uses it (=probably everybody).

Actually, that wouldn't even work in the apartment building I live in (in
Berlin, Germany). Some people park their scooters in the courtyard... a public
power outlet would probably be used for anything imagineable before a scooter
would even get a half charge.

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russelluresti
Very cool. The battery swap idea is nice (which is probably why Tesla switched
to it recently), and they're right - it can be used for a lot more than just
scooters (if they can convince other manufacturers to accept their batteries).

The only issue is that it doesn't sound like their battery technology is all
that great. The mentioned the scooter can only get 60 miles on a full charge -
meanwhile, a Tesla can get over 200 and should consume a lot more energy than
a smaller scooter.

With so much of their idea riding on the battery itself (and not the scooter),
they're going to need an awesome battery. If they have to use someone else's
battery technology, I don't think it will work out that well for them, as a
company.

As an idea, it's great. As a company, they've got work to do in the department
of developing a better battery.

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jawngee
I live in Vietnam where scooters are the defacto mode of transport. I
literally get headaches driving home during rush hour from sucking all that
exhaust, though I've recently been able to find a good solid face mask (a
Totobobo) that helps _a lot_.

Anyways, my point is that 60 miles on a scooter is pretty far in terms of how
scooters are used here. You aren't going to make that long haul to Dalat or
anything, but for day to day, this thing would be awesome.

I don't think it'll catch on here though, but I won't get into why.

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thomasfl
Gogoro should try make their battery design an IEC standard.

In the video Horace Luke talks about the impact the AA battery had on the
consumer electronics industry. AA batteries was standardised by ANSI in 1947.
Todays standard batteries are too small for any kind of transportation device.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes)

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technofiend
Interesting idea. I live in a sub-tropical zone that is hot most of the year.
If I had the option of this or a $30-40k Tesla and the ability to just swap
batteries, the Tesla would win every time for two reasons a) a roof over my
head to keep the rain off, b) air conditioning.

I might have gone for it in college, but even then I'd been saving my pennies
for a car.

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joshuaheard
I see where they are going. Assuming all vehicles go electric in the future
and swappable batteries become the norm, it would make sense to standardize on
one battery whose distribution would be ubiquitous, versus each vehicle
manufacturer having to create a swappable battery distribution system.

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RRRA
Funny how they compare this to AA batteries that anyone can make while they
want a DRM enforced monopoly...

Open up!

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foxyv
Anyone else notice the use of the Arduino symbol on the charging station?

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rbcgerard
my guess is that if it can get off the ground, it will eventually be a battery
service company and not a scooter company

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bogardon
very slick design:)

