I have never been one to get into scooters. If I want to ride something that has two wheels you better believe I’m going to ride a Suzuki Hayabusa, but that’s just me. (Come on, how can you not want to ride a motorcycle that goes over 200 mph stock?) But, if you do not want to risk death the first time you ride, a scooter may be a better option for you. If that person is you, Gogoro has some good news for you.
At CES 2015, Gogoro revealed a new electric scooter known as the Gogoro Smartscooter, along with a battery-swap program that allows owners to swap out their battery on the fly. The scooter itself is small, sleek, and a bit on the feminine side. I can’t imagine this being effective nor stylish for a full grown male due to its size, but some may be able to pull it off with a little weight watchers magic and a pink shirt.
Gogoro claims to be the first and only Smartscooter. With Gogoro’s smart mode, the scooter will analyze you’re riding patterns, adjust the power, tune the torque, and dim lights to help maximize the scooters battery life. For those of us who are too lazy to get off the couch to see if the scooter needs to be charged, you don’t need to worry. The Gogoro scooter app allows you to stay on your couch and check the battery levels from your phone.
In order for the Gogoro to be successful people will need to really buy into the battery-swap program. This program allows you to swap out your batteries on the road. If you see that you are running low on juice, simply pull up the Gogoro app and reserve a battery at the nearest GoStation. From what I have read, the two 20- pound batteries will allow you to travel up to 60 miles. While that does not seem far, most scooters are not built for long rides, especially battery powered ones.
While we do not know how much the scooter, nor the battery-swap subscription will cost, I would expect it to be a pretty penny since the Gogoro is bringing new and innovated technology to the scooter world. Below is a video put out by Gogoro to demonstrate the new scooter.
[embedyt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DG8h8fs8Jw[/embedyt]
Could you see yourself riding the Gogoro Smartscooter, or are you like myself and would rather ride around on a Suzuki Hayabusa? Does the everyday rider really need the tech the Gogoro Smartscooter provides? Let us know in the comment section below