Gogoro, a Taiwan-based scooter and battery system, has added solid state chemistry to its swappable batteries. This increases the stored energy in each 9 kilogram (19.8 pound) pack from 1.7 kilowatt-hours of the current liquid electrolyte to 2.5 kWhr. These packs are light enough for a small woman to handle, as shown in Gogoro’s promotional videos. Growing GoStations Swapping batteries on Gogoro’s own scooters is quick and convenient, with over “10,000 battery-swapping GoStations at over 2,300 locations,” by the firm’s own count. They serve over 450,000 riders with over 340,000 daily swaps. Powering 95-percent of all electric two-wheel scooters on the island nation, they’ve “hosted” more than 260,000,000 total battery swaps to date. Gogoro boasts their “Network subscribers have swapped over 140 million Smart Batteries without incident since 2015.” The number of GoStations is close to exceeding the number of gas stations on Taiwan. A joint development between Gogoro and Prologium, the new solid-state batteries fit the existing modules in …
Motoczysz Wins the Isle of Man TT – Again
Gizmag.com reports this morning that Motoczysz (roughly, “moto-sizz”), won the Isle of Man electric Tourist Trophy race at an average speed just short of the fabled “ton,” or 100 miles per hour. Although 28 percent shy of the best internal combustion machine’s time, Gizmag urges looking at it from the perspective that it’s been 54 years since a petrol-powered motorcycle achieved that speed. Mike Hanlon, reporting for Gizmag, notes that the bike’s 99.513 mph average demonstrates, “yet another quantum leap in electric bike performance from last year’s 96.820 mph average and the 2009 winning average of 87.434 mph.” This had to be a bit frustrating for the winning rider, since the 100 mph average would have netted him an additional prize of 10,000 pounds sterling (about $16,000). Rider Michael Rutter and teammate Mark Miller finished 1-2 on the Portland, Oregon manufactured bikes, and one managed a 149.5 mph run through the speed traps, showing the enormous speed these bikes can …