In yet another stop on Gogoro’s global rollout campaign, Colombia is coming online with Gogoro’s much-lauded battery-swapping electric scooter system.
Today, the Taiwanese company Gogoro and Colombian fuel company Terpel announced the official commencement of Gogoro’s operations in the South American country. Starting in Colombia’s capital of Bogotá, Gogoro’s battery swapping will be operated through Terpel’s Voltex brand.
The news follows the company’s original announcement earlier this year, when we first learned of Gogoro’s intentions to enter the Colombian and Chilean markets.
Gogoro is well known for its battery-swapping system, which has seen dozens of electric scooter models powered by either single or pairs of Gogoro batteries that are charged and stored in public swapping stations. In addition to Gogoro’s own electric scooters, several other companies such as Yamaha, Aeon, and others also produce electric two-wheelers that operate with Gogoro’s batteries. Gogoro has even shown off heavier electric three-wheelers that use four battery backs as well as minicar concepts that use Gogoro batteries as a form of electric jerrycan.
Initially, Gogoro’s 2 Plus and Vivamix Smartscooters will be employed in the Colombian rollout.
“Gogoro and Terpel share a common vision for accelerating the shift to two-wheel sustainable transportation in Colombia and across Latin America. Gogoro Swap & Go battery swapping addresses many of the challenges that traditional plug-in charging presents,” said Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro. “With 590 million battery swaps to date and more than 400,000 battery swaps per day, Gogoro Battery Swapping has demonstrated that it is safe, reliable and the ideal choice for two-wheel urban transportation in cities like Bogotá.”
“In line with our commitment to supporting Colombia, we continue to expand our portfolio with alternatives that contribute to Colombia’s decarbonization goals and encourage the deployment of electromobility solutions,” said Oscar Bravo, president of Terpel. “Gogoro battery swapping strengthens and complements our comprehensive portfolio of services by offering users the convenience of swapping batteries in just seconds. We hope that, by facilitating this experience, more people and industries will join this new mobility scheme.”
The first four Gogoro battery swapping stations are located at Terpel service stations in Bogotá. The partnership expects to expand to 14 total locations by the end of 2024, with additional plans to expand to other cities such as Medellín.
Gogoro’s electric scooters will be marketed in the country by Motored, a leading two-wheel distributor in Colombia with 10 years of experience in the national motorcycle market.
