Electric scooter vendor Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) said it plans to install 100 charging stations at local stores, including coffee shops and bookstores, by the end of this year to help boost sales.
The Taoyuan-based company has sold more than 10,000 scooters in Taiwan since its launch in summer last year.
On Thursday, Gogoro said it picked Taichung to install the company’s first mini battery-charging station.
The company plans to complete installation of 21 charging stations by today at 21 shops in Taichung, including CMYK Gallery, Fukurou Living and Mojo Coffee, it said in a statement.
Taiwan FamilyMart Co’s (全家便利商店) convenience stores and Louisa Coffee chain stores will also join the company’s energy-sharing project, which encourages individuals and businesses to install charging devices, Gogoro said.
Gogoro riders can find recharged batteries at 225 swap stations in Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung and Changhua.
Meanwhile, the company is also pushing its first overseas expansion plan. The company early this month said it is teaming up with Bosch Co to offer electric scooter sharing services with Coup, as subsidiary of Bosch, in Berlin.
In the initial phase, the service will offer 200 scooters in the Berlin Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg neighborhoods, Gogoro said.
The service will be available for a flat rate of 3 euros (US$3.40) for 30 minutes, or 20 euros for a day, the company said.
“Launching the Gogoro smart scooter in Berlin as our first expansion market is special because it is a great two-wheel city and is also one of the most sophisticated, progressive and creative cities in the world,” Gogoro co-founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke (陸學森) said in the statement.
“The European market for electric motorcycles and scooters is still in its infancy, yet European consumers are clamoring for more sustainable and innovative two-wheel options like what Gogoro is offering with Coup in Berlin today,” Luke said.
He said the company has been approached by many scooter sharing service providers from around the world over the past year and it found that that Bosch and Coup had the potential to be a market maker for scooter sharing in Europe.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
CHINA NOT A FRIEND: ‘Newsflash: Democracy is good for your businesses,’ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said as she gave a speech at a national defense forum US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defense forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed that “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China, including those used in the development of artificial intelligence
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan
RSS