Taiwanese EV Giant Gogoro Signs $1.5 Billion Mega Deal With Maharashtra To Manufacture Vehicles, Smart Battery Packs, Battery Swap Stations

Gogoro, a Taiwanese-based battery-swapping service provider and two-wheeler manufacturer, has entered in to an agreement with Maharashtra government to invest $1.5 billion in the cities of Pune and Aurangabad over the next eight years to manufacture electric vehicles, smart battery packs, and battery swap stations. 

The announcement was made at a press conference addressed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday (June 28).

The agreement follows a MOU between Maharashtra and Gogoro that was previously announced at Davos in January 2023.

As part of the eight-year plan, Gogoro will invest more than US$500 million for manufacturing vehicles and another US$1 billion for smart battery infrastructure deployment which will be supported by financial incentives and reimbursements by Maharashtra.

Battery swapping infrastructure is expected to start deployment across Maharashtra later this year and will leverage Gogoro’s energy ecosystem, including smart battery stations, swapping technologies, and network management solutions.

Gogoro is well-known for its high-speed electric scooters and their swappable batteries, which eliminate the need to stop and charge the scooter for several hours. The riders simply pull into a battery swap station and roll back out seconds later with new, fully charged batteries.

In Gogoro’s domestic market of Taiwan, thousands of swap stations cover the country and ensure riders are always within a few minutes of a station. The company counts hundreds of thousands of battery swaps each day across those stations.

Gogoro also has significant presence in Indonesia, Israel and the Philippines, 

“Having built a successful open battery-swapping network supporting multiple vehicle makers in Taiwan, we plan to proceed in partnership with the Maharashtra State Government to bring Gogoro vehicles, smart batteries and swap stations to India in the state of Maharashtra,” Gogoro chief executive officer Horace Luke said in a statement.

“We are focused on creating a domestic supplier ecosystem that allows for domestic growth and foreign market expansion,” Luke said.

The project would generate about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, the statement said.

“As the leading State in India for electric vehicles, Maharashtra is demonstrating our strong commitment towards sustainable transportation for all. We are creating a smart battery ecosystem with Gogoro, a leader in sustainable vehicles and electric fuel technologies. As part of the project, Gogoro will establish its India vehicle, smart battery and battery swapping station manufacturing in Maharashtra and deploy their industry leading smart battery infrastructure in the state, generating approximately 10,000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde.