Hero MotoCorp and Gogoro announce strategic partnership to develop vehicles and use an established battery swapping network
Hero MotoCorp and Gogoro Inc. are embarking on a strategic partnership. Focus lays on accelerating the shift to sustainable electric mobility in India. Gogoro is reputed for urban battery swapping and smart mobility innovation.
The development is headed towards a battery swapping joint venture. This will introduce Gogoro’s battery swapping platform to India. The collaboration will work on electric vehicle development to bring Hero-branded, powered by Gogoro Network vehicles to the fore.
Gogoro Network already caters to 3,75,000 riders and 2,000 battery swapping stations. This accounts for 2,65,000 daily battery swaps. To date, the company has undertaken upward of 174 million battery swaps. Gogoro is a Taiwan based company, a nation with a $100bn semiconductor industry. The country churns out the majority of advanced microchips too.
Gogoro Network battery swapping
The Gogoro Network battery swapping open platform succeeds on the back of connectivity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The end result is a smart swappable battery refuelling platform that is scalable, and is continually being developed to cater to wider needs.
Gogoro’s vehicle maker partners go on to access the company’s smart innovations and IP. This includes intelligent drivetrains and controllers, components and smart systems. The end product is a plethora of electric vehicles that are compatible with Gogoro Network battery swapping.
To be fair, Hero MotoCorp has seen unprecedented success in the domestic two wheeler market. And this means the company is sitting at the cusp of great development when the next gen of new age vehicles become a mainstream affair. The future is electric. And when electric adaption becomes large scale, Hero MotoCorp will want to lead from the front. Its grip on the market is widespread, and in time, its network will simply shift to being an electric one.
Ather Energy, Gogoro – What Next?
Hero MotoCorp is also associated with Ather Energy, a fairly new electric startup. One can expect multiple such smart partnerships and collaborations as Hero lays the groundwork for its big electric transformation.
As demand is generated, mega e-commerce companies are committed to using electric vehicles as part of their fleets. Ola electric is already vying for top spot in the area working at breakneck speed to ready its plant in India. Hero would very much like to be available with a range of products considering demand in the commercial space is already growing.
Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said, “Our strategic partnership with Gogoro is in line with our Vision – ‘Be the Future of Mobility’ which we are bringing alive through our Mission to ‘Create, Collaborate & Inspire’. Today marks another major milestone in our journey, as we bring Hero’s leadership in two-wheelers, our Global scale and innovation powerhouse, with the leadership of Gogoro in Swapping business model, as they have demonstrated over the years in Taiwan and rest of the world.”