Gogoro, Taiwan’s largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer and battery swapping major, has taken the next step in its India-market entry plans. The battery-swapping specialist has entered into a contract manufacturing partnership with Tier 1 automotive component manufacturer – Metalman Auto – to produce a range of electric scooters in India.
- Plans to have a range of high-speed e-scooters
- Launch likely to be around mid-2023
Production is set to begin in June 2023, with Metalman Auto set to manufacture a range of two-wheelers for Gogoro from its plant in Waluj, Aurangabad, Maharashtra. According to several people in the know, the swappable battery specialist plans to have a range of electric two-wheelers with the majority skewed towards high-speed scooters to benefit from FAME 2 subsidies. The market launch of the e-scooters is planned around the middle of 2023.
The company is currently working on three projects codenamed – PUZ, CU and UX – for the Indian market with a potential to also export to other countries. One of the alternatives includes an Indian version of the Gogoro Viva scooter for the personal buyer space.
In November 2022, Gogoro entered into a partnership with Zypp Electric to support its clean mobility needs in the National Capital Region (NCR). The company is working on multiple volume scenarios – ranging from 50,000 to 1,00,000 units per annum. Exports are likely to account for about 10-20 percent of its total output within the next few years.
A few weeks ago, the co-founder and CEO of Gogoro, Horace Luke was in New Delhi to kick-start the company’s pilot battery swapping infrastructure. Gogoro is expanding its footprint in several countries and prefers to tap local manufacturing partners.
Gogoro already has an alliance with India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp and Foxconn for development and sales of swappable battery solutions. Globally, Gogoro has tie-ups with 10 different vehicle manufacturers including Yamaha and Suzuki Taiwan.
Metalman Auto has successfully presented itself as a one-stop shop for all the fabrication needs and they are currently catering to various automotive OEM’s and white goods industry while maintaining global level of competencies.