In our previous report, we disclosed that Horace Luke, founder and CEO of Gogoro, had resigned amidst allegations of subsidy fraud perpetrated by the company in its native Taiwanese market. The Taiwanese authorities have concluded that insufficient evidence supports allegations of fraud in their ongoing investigation into a prior case of mislabeled non-native components.
A defective component was discovered on a limited subset of a single model of electric scooters manufactured by Gogoro, specifically affecting a solitary mannequin. A manufacturing defect, reportedly referred to internally as a “supply chain mistake,” led to the use in some of the company’s VIVA model electric scooters of a sole foreign-sourced component.
Taiwanese authorities accused electric scooter manufacturer Gogoro of committing subsidy fraud last week, allegedly due to a single component on its JEGO model being sourced from abroad, despite receiving large government subsidies intended for local product manufacturers. Notwithstanding a report by local media, the Ministry of Finance’s Industry Development Administration has released its findings, revealing that there is “insufficient evidence” to substantiate claims that the Gogoro VIVA model violated domestic manufacturing regulations.
As Gogoro’s reputation grew, it solidified its position as the industry leader in battery swapping, boasting over a million swappable batteries in use and an astonishing number of tens of millions of seamless swaps since its inception. Across its vast customer base, millions of batteries are exchanged daily.
The company’s iconic black and grey battery packs are dispersed across thousands of battery swap stations, each of which occupies less than an auto parking space yet can service dozens of scooters almost simultaneously. Large-scale battery-swapping stations are capable of recharging hundreds of electric scooters simultaneously.
While Taiwanese startup Gogoro is known for designing and manufacturing its own electric scooters, it has also opened up its proprietary battery technology to other major automotive companies, enabling manufacturers such as Yamaha and Aeon to develop their own electric scooters that are compatible with Gogoro’s standardized batteries.
While Gogoro’s primary focus remains in its native Taiwanese market, the company has successfully diversified its operations to several countries, including China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, Israel, Singapore, Chile, and Colombia.
As the corporation’s operations have expanded rapidly, its battery-swapping model has proven costly to scale. Faced with consecutive quarters of growing internet working losses, speculation has swirled that the departure of founder and CEO Horace Luke was more closely tied to the company’s financial struggles than allegations of subsidy fraud surrounding his leadership.
The company’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ, having experienced a gradual decline in value over the past two years; a fraud allegation last week led to an additional sharp drop in valuation.
Despite a relatively low inventory value, my Gogoro scooter has proven to be a reliable and convenient everyday companion. Actually, I replaced the worn-out batteries with new ones in the afternoon.
