Gogoro’s battery-swapping electric scooters begin operations in Singapore
Gogoro, widely considered to be the world leader in battery swapping for light electric vehicles like e-motorbikes, has just launched operations in its latest global expansion to Singapore. A new partnership will now see Gogoro’s battery-swapping technology deployed for food delivery.
Gogoro and Cycle & Carriage Singapore (C&C) have announced a partnership with food delivery service foodpanda for a battery swapping scooter pilot. The partnership comes after the Singapore Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) announcement last year that it awarded Gogoro and C&C with a battery-swapping sandbox pilot for electric two-wheeled vehicles.
The electric scooters are ideal for commercial use such as delivery scooters like these that are in operation throughout the day. Gogoro scooters don’t need to stop and charge their batteries since the company is built upon its in-house battery-swapping architecture. That allows scooter riders to spend just a few seconds swapping batteries instead of many hours charging them.
The companies involved in the partnership explained that the pilot operated with foodpanda will offer insights that will be used to accelerate the adoption of sustainable mobility as Singapore moves toward a transportation system using cleaner and more sustainable energy.
As Gogoro’s founder and CEO Horace Luke expanded:
With more than 26 percent of all daily quick deliveries in Taiwan enabled by Gogoro battery swapping, I am excited to be introducing our battery swapping and vehicle technologies in Singapore with two market-leading partners like Cycle & Carriage Singapore and foodpanda. Cities like Singapore are at an inflection point of sustainability and are beginning to embrace sustainable transportation in new impactful ways. On average, last mile delivery riders ride more than six-times the distance as consumer riders, so enabling these delivery riders to adopt smart sustainable electric transportation can have an accelerated impact on a city.
The pilot will operate with Gogoro 2 electric scooters that use the company’s G2 Motor, described as a “hyper-efficient, water-cooled motor delivering incredible and efficient power and performance with a maximum speed of 90km/h.”
The scooters also use Gogoro’s FLO Drive system, which is based around a Gates Carbon Drive belt setup that reduces noise and removes maintenance associated with chain drives.
The Gogoro 2 holds a pair of Gogoro’s approximately 1.7 kWh batteries, whose combined 3.4 kWh capacity offers an estimated city range of up to 100 km (60 miles). The company says that six seconds is all that is needed to swap out the batteries for another 100 km of range.
I own a Gogoro S2 Performance electric scooter that I use as my daily driver, and in practice I find that the swap takes closer to 30 seconds when you include parking, opening the battery compartment, etc. But even 30 seconds is still blazing fast to completely top up the scooter’s “tank,” and is of course even faster than filling up a fuel tank on a combustion scooter – not to mention cleaner and nicer smelling!
In my city, Gogoro scooters are available both for purchase by private owners as well as for commercial use by delivery couriers. I frequently see them used in both roles, each with unique advantages. Commuters never have to worry about finding a place to charge, which is a serious concern in densely populated cities where many apartment dwellers lack a parking spot with a charging plug. Delivery riders don’t have to stop and charge for hours, which would impact their earnings.
Gogoro has aggressively expanded its operations to locations including India, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, China and more, though the competition seems to have taken notice. Battery swapping has become a key focus of other companies, including KYMCO’s Ionex electric scooter and battery platform, as well as brand-agnostic battery swapping services like Vammo (previously Leoparda). But as others enter the market, they’ll have to compete with Gogoro’s massive first mover advantage. The Gogoro Network currently supports more than 524,000 riders and boasts more than 1.1 million smart batteries in circulation. Those batteries account for over 370 million swaps to date across the company’s 12,200 battery swapping GoStations at over 2,504 locations, which have been responsible for saving more than 250,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
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A view of offshore oil and gas platform Esther in the Pacific Ocean on January 5, 2025 in Seal Beach, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images
Oil prices jumped on Friday as the U.S. Treasury Department announced sweeping sanctions against Russia’s oil industry.
Brent gained $1.92, or 2.5%, to $78.84 per barrel by 11:12 a.m. ET, while U.S. crude oil advanced $1.89, or 2.56%, to $75.81 per barrel. Brent broke $80 per barrel for the first time since October earlier in day, hitting a session high of $80.75.
The sanctions target Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and their subsidiaries, more than 180 tankers, and more than a dozen Russian energy officials and executives. The sanctioned executives include Gazprom Neft CEO Aleksandr Valeryevich Dyukov.
The sanctioned vessels are mostly oil tankers that are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that has dodged existing sanctions on the country’s energy exports, according to the Treasury Department.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
Brent crude futures, 1 year
“With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports,” Yellen said.
The perception in the oil market is Indian and Chinese refiners that have imported Russian oil will have to scramble for barrels from the Middle East, said Bob Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities, in a note to clients Friday.
The Biden administration has sought to ratchet up pressure on Russia and dispense aid to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
“The Biden administration opted for more robust energy sanctions, which caught the oil market especially complacent about sanctions risks,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group.
“Therefore, we expect today’s material risk premium in Brent to stick pending signals from the Trump team as to whether they will continue these sanctions,” McNally said.
Hydrostor’s GEM A-CAES has received a conditional loan guarantee of up to $1.76 billion from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to build the Willow Rock Energy Storage Center, a cutting-edge compressed air energy storage (CAES) system, in Eastern Kern County, California.
If everything goes as planned, Willow Rock will bring 500 megawatts (MW) and 4,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of long-duration energy storage (LDES) to the southern California power grid.
This system will lower energy costs, improve grid reliability during peak demand, and expand the rollout of renewable energy into the grid. Here’s how it works and why it’s unique.
How compressed air energy storage works
CAES technology is all about storing energy for later use, especially when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Here’s how it works:
- Storing energy: The system takes surplus energy (often from renewable sources like solar or wind) and uses it to compress air, which is stored in underground caverns.
- Releasing energy: When the grid needs power, the compressed air is released, passing through a turbine to generate electricity. Willow Rock will be able to dispatch stored energy at full power for over eight-hour periods.
Unlike conventional batteries, CAES can scale up based on the size of the storage cavern and doesn’t rely on scarce critical materials. It’s durable, too –systems like Willow Rock are designed to last over 50 years.
Why advanced CAES is different
Traditional CAES systems face two big challenges: wasted heat and inconsistent power output. Willow Rock’s advanced compressed air energy storage system (A-CAES) technology solves these problems:
- Thermal energy capture: Conventional CAES loses around 50% of energy during the air compression process. Willow Rock pairs a proprietary thermal storage system with this process, so it captures, stores, and reuses heat from the compression cycle.
- Constant Pressure: Traditional systems lose efficiency as underground air pressure drops. Willow Rock maintains consistent pressure by using water from an above-ground reservoir. As a bonus, the facility will be a net producer of fresh water, as water condensed during the compression process will be captured and reused.
This innovative design means A-CAES systems can be installed in a greater variety of underground conditions – an estimated 80% of US geology could support similar systems, opening the door for wide deployment.
Willow Rock will create up to 700 construction jobs at its peak, and 40 full-time operations roles will follow. These positions require skills similar to those used in the oil and gas industry, making it a natural fit for Kern County, a region with roots in fossil fuel production.
GEM A-CAES is a subsidiary of Hydrostor USA Holdings, a subsidiary of Hydrostor of Canada.
Read more: The world’s highest solar + storage project is online in Tibet
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Chinese EV automaker Build Your Dreams (BYD) has unveiled its ATTO 2 compact SUV to the European public. The launch, which took place at the Brussels Motor Show, kicks off BYD’s next EV entry into European and UK markets. The BYD ATTO 2 is smaller and more affordable than its SUV siblings, with a decent range to boot, perfect for European roads.
The ATTO 2 is a rebranded version of the Chinese EV automaker BYD’s Yuan Up – an ultra-affordable compact SUV that debuted in China in February 2024. BYD may not be bringing “Yuan” branded EVs over to new markets in Europe, but that lineup continues to grow each month.
BYD currently sells four all-electric models in the UK and seven in Europe, including the ATTO 3 SUV. Today, BYD debuted a rebranded version of the Yuan Up called the ATTO 2, which will go on sale to customers in the UK and Europe next month.
BYD unveils ATTO 2 in Brussels, sales begin in February
The Brussels Motor Show recently kicked off as the first major automotive expo in Europe in 2025, and BYD showed up with a new affordable BEV option to complement the ATTO 3. Per BYD executive vice president Stella Li:
We’re excited to start 2025 with another important model for our plans in Europe. The B-segment SUV class is incredibly popular here, and with the ATTO 2, we have an agile and versatile offering that will appeal to that large potential customer base. It takes all of BYD’s strengths in batteries, electric motors and Cell-to-Body construction and combines them in a compact package that brings new intelligent technologies to the urban SUV class.
The ATTO 2 is 4,310mm long, 1,830mm wide, and 1,675mm tall—145mm shorter and 45mm slimmer than its ATTO 3 sibling. Despite its compact size, the ATTO 2 offers up to 1,430 liters of cargo capacity with its rear seat down.
The ATTO 2 also sits atop BYD’s e-Platform 3.0, the first of the brand’s compact SUVs to utilize Cell-to-Body (CTB) construction, which integrates the battery completely into the vehicle chassis—this design results in optimized space and overall increased vehicle rigidity.
Speaking of batteries, the EU and UK customers who opt for an ATTO 2 can experience BYD’s proprietary Blade Batteries, which integrates LFP cells directly instead of fitting them into multiple modules. BYD says customers can choose between two battery sizes in their ATTO 2 order. At launch, a standard range edition will utilize a 45.1 kWh Blade Battery, delivering a (WLTP) 312 km (194 miles) range.
However, BYD said a larger-battery version of the ATTO 2 will arrive in the coming months and offer drivers greater range. The automaker is not yet sharing individual pricing for the ATTO 2 in the UK or Europe. Still, a representative for the company said the compact SUV is expected to land between the BYD Dolphin and ATTO 3 BEVs, which in the UK cost 26,140 GBP ($32,157) and 37,140 GBP ($45,689) respectively.
ATTO 2 sales are expected to begin in February.
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