Gogoro has quickly become an innovation leader in battery swapping among others
Battery swapping technology is yet to make its mark in Malaysia but in Taiwan, where about 430,000 electric scooters or e-scooters roam the roads, the technology is becoming increasingly popular thanks to Gogoro.
Founded in 2011, Gogoro is a strong proponent of the battery swapping technology for e-scooters and has so far deployed over 2,200 battery swapping stations (called GoStations) throughout the country. Unsurprisingly, the widespread availability of these stations has prompted major motorcycle manufacturers to partner up with Gogoro to develop e-scooters specifically for the Taiwanese market.
One of those manufacturers is Yamaha, who has just confirmed that it will launch the EMF e-scooter in March. The EMF is Yamaha’s second e-scooter to be developed in collaboration with Gogoro after the EC-05 that was launched in 2019.
However, unlike that e-scooter, which was designed by Yamaha Motor themselves, the EMF was developed by the brand’s Taiwan subsidiary, Yamaha Motor R&D Taiwan using the Gogoro Development Kit (GDK). It will be produced and marketed by Yamaha Motor Taiwan.
Technical details are scarce at the time of this writing but according to reports, the EMF has 10.3 PS and 26 Nm on tap, enabling it to accelerate from 0 to 50 km/h in just 3.5 seconds. It is also unknown how far the scooter can go with one full charge but with that many battery swapping stations, we imagine that range is not something that commuters in Taiwan actively worry about.
PRESS RELEASE
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272) announced today that it will launch the EMF in Taiwan in March 2022 as its second electric scooter with a swappable battery system through its ongoing collaboration with Gogoro Inc. (Headquarters: Taoyuan City, Taiwan, CEO: Horace Luke).
The EC-05 launched for Taiwan in 2019 was an OEM model designed by Yamaha Motor based on the platform of a Gogoro production vehicle. In contrast, the EMF’s chassis was designed by Yamaha Motor’s local subsidiary of Yamaha Motor R&D Taiwan Co., Ltd. based on the Gogoro Design Kit, and will be produced and marketed by Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co., Ltd. Further, the EMF’s unique styling sets it apart from other two-wheeled EVs to date while its small-diameter wheels provide it with excellent acceleration. These make it a model that is fun and full of friendly appeal.
The EMF will be able to use the many GoStation® battery-swapping stations installed throughout Taiwan by Gogoro Energy Network.
In July of this year, the Company reviewed the Yamaha Motor Group Environmental Plan 2050 originally formulated in 2018 and set a new goal of aiming for carbon neutrality throughout all of its business activities—including across the life cycles of its products—by 2050. One of the goals in the plan is to reduce Scope 3 (Use of sold products) CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050 compared to 2010’s levels. The EMF is a strategic electric vehicle that will be introduced to the market in order to help achieve this goal.
