Taiwan's battery-swap pioneer Gogoro has revealed the first details of its upcoming flagship electric smartscooter. The high-performance Pulse boasts zippy acceleration, a healthy amount of torque and is the first scoot to come with Snapdragon-powered smarts.
Gogoro was founded in 2011 and has since been releasing a steady stream of curvy electric scooters as well as setting up thousands of battery hotswap stations that allow riders to pull up, remove a depleted pack or two and quickly replace with fresh ones – significantly reducing the time parked up and effectively putting an end to range anxiety.
Like the recently revealed CrossOver all-terrain model, the company's latest flagship seems to have abandoned the cuteness of past scoots in favor of a grown-up modern aesthetic not too dissimilar to recent rides from CSC and Peugeot, with perhaps a hint of BMW thrown in for good measure.
"The Pulse introduces a new and exhilarating Gogoro riding experience that utilizes our latest innovations in electric performance and aerodynamic efficiency with advanced lighting and an immersive interactive user experience," said Gogoro founder and CEO, Horace Luke.
The angular chassis has been designed with drag reduction in mind, but also serves to air-cool the electric motor as part of a hybrid water/air system. The e-scoot is built around a new 9-kW H1 electric motor for a sprint to 50 km/h (31 mph) in 3.05 seconds, with Gogoro telling us that the top speed will be 116 km/h (72 mph).
The company's Hypercore smart system enables a whopping 378 Nm (278.8 lb.ft) of torque at the rear wheel, while also delivering "state-of-the-art" traction control. The company has confirmed that the "max riding range per battery swap (at 30 km/h) is approx 170 km [105.6 miles], but it greatly depends on riding style." The 10.25-inch HD digital dash will alert riders to the nearest battery-swap GoStations as well as remaining charge.
This smart cockpit taps into the processing power of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon QWM2290 chipset, and the display includes features such as turn-by-turn navigation with real-time traffic updates along with ride info such as current speed and power level. There are six ride modes are available, selected using a dedicated dial on the handlebar.
The Pulse can also be locked/unlocked and powered on remotely using an iPhone and Apple Watch, and riders can use Apple's Find My network to locate a wayward smartscooter.
Full specs and details are still to come, but Gogoro has introduced an active-matrix lighting system that's made up of 13 LED arrays designed to "adapt to the rider’s speed, turns, and even weather conditions." The matrix will, for example, extend the reach of the headlight beam as the scooter speeds up, and throw out a wider spread during cornering.
There's no word at the moment on pricing, or international availability – though the company has recently expanded into markets such as the Philippines, India, Singapore, South Korea and Israel. The Pulse will start shipping to customers in Taiwan from late Q2.
Product page: Gogoro Pulse