After recently launching its newest electric scooter, the Gogoro JEGO Smartscooter, deliveries of the hot-selling electric scooters are ready to begin. This marks a new page for Gogoro, the world’s largest battery-swapping network operator, and makes swappable battery electric scooters more affordable than ever.
The Gogoro JEGO launched in Taiwan last month, quickly racking up over 6,500 fully-paid pre-orders in that short time.
Gogoro already dominates the local market with around a 90% share of new electric scooter registrations in Taiwain. According to Gogoro, JEGO sales are showing the strongest demand for a Gogoro vehicle since the beginning of the pandemic. The company’s domestic market of Taiwan is by far its largest, though Gogoro scooters and battery swapping stations have now expanded to much of Asia as Gogoro expands its footprint.
With an introductory price that drops as low as just US $760 after government subsidies, the JEGO is positioned as an affordable new model to open up the local market further and entice more price-sensitive combustion engine scooter riders.
The scooter was built around Gogoro’s well-known battery standard, allowing one or two battery packs to power the vehicle around cities and urban areas. Riders buy the scooter but don’t own the batteries, instead subscribing to a swapping plan. That helps reduce the price of the scooter further and ensures Gogoro can get the longest life out of the batteries possible via intelligent charging and swapping doctrines. Having started its swapping programs back in 2015, Gogoro has learned that its batteries are lasting even longer than originally anticipated, with a new estimated lifespan of around 12 years.
An affordable new battery-swapping subscription plan was also announced along with the JEGO, offering new riders a US $7/month plan to cover up to 1,000 km (621 miles) of riding per month when signing up for a three-year plan.
The JEGO’s goal of converting existing combustion engine scooter riders over to electric seems to be working well.
“JEGO has touched a positive chord with a new market segment of Taiwan riders – nearly all of our 6,500 pre-order customers are first-time EV riders. They are looking for a smart, convenient, and sustainable vehicle and are not just embracing JEGO’s innovation and design but also access to Gogoro’s vast battery-swapping network,” said Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro. “Initial JEGO sales are surpassing our expectations and showing the strongest demand we’ve seen since the beginning of the pandemic. With deliveries beginning this week, we expect to realize JEGO’s pre-order revenue this quarter.”
At the same time as Gogoro expands its entry-level offering with the JEGO, Gogoro is also preparing for the rollout of its recently revealed premium-level Gogoro Pulse. That high-performance model, which also uses the same Gogoro swappable battery packs, includes a number of automotive-style features never before seen in the electric scooter market.
The dual-pronged approach reveals Gogoro’s ability to innovate on both ends of the market, serving both entry-level riders and higher-performance enthusiasts.
