Electric scooter manufacturer Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) plans to launch its new scooter-sharing service in Taoyuan next week.
The firm’s GoShare service is different from the existing rental services launched in Berlin, Madrid and on Okinawa by Gogoro’s partners.
“We hope GoShare will help upgrade urban conveyance systems and reach the ultimate goal of building a green living environment for people. Taoyuan is our first stop,” Henry Chiang (姜家煒), head of GoShare, said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The rental service aims to complement Taoyuan’s public transport system with its fleet of 1,000 bright-blue electric scooters, Gogoro said.
Taoyuan was chosen as the starting point because the city is home to Gogoro and the local government is heavily subsidizing electric scooter purchases, the company said.
From Thursday next week, people with a driver’s license can rent an electric scooter in Taoyuan using the GoShare app, the company said, adding that they can ride anywhere, but need to return the scooter to Taoyuan.
If the battery runs down, people can pick up a fully charged one at any of the battery stations operated by Gogoro, it added.
Gogoro operates about 1,345 battery swap stations in Taiwan and plans to increase that figure to 1,500 by the end of this year.
To promote GoShare, Gogoro is offering people a free 30 minutes on their first ride if they register before Dec. 31.
The company plans to charge a flat rate for the first six minutes and users will be charged for every minute thereafter, but no detailed charges were available as of yesterday.
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