If you haven’t considered battery swapping as the future of electric motorbikes, then the last few days should give you reason to consider. With companies like Gogoro leading the way and KYMCO hot on their heels, now Vammo is launching its own battery-swapping stations for electric motorcycles.
If you haven’t heard of Vammo before, then you’re probably not alone. Not only did the company recently change its name (formerly Leoparda), but they’ve also started by focusing on an underserved part of the world when it comes to battery-swapping motorcycles: South America.
The startup isn’t brand-new though, they’ve already got the experience of over 75,000 battery swaps under their belt since last December. Those were performed in manual battery-swap stations that required a Vammo representative, but now the company is launching its new self-service stations developed to significantly expand its operations.
Vammo doesn’t develop its own electric motorbikes like Gogoro, but instead partners with existing motorcycle manufacturers to operate a swapping-as-a-service model. For now, the service is available to Vammo’s customers who ride on a wide spectrum of motorcycle models and types, such as the VS2 or VS1 from VMoto SuperSoco. Vammo’s battery-swap stations have been specifically developed to work with various battery types, sizes, and power levels.
That service is particularly useful for delivery riders and motorbike taxis who use their two-wheelers for all-day shifts. With that many kilometers on the road, the massive cost benefits of electric motorbikes stack up even quicker. But ensuring the bikes can ride all day means having freshly charged batteries ready to swap out whenever necessary.
The process takes less than two minutes at Vammo’s new battery stations, or around the same amount of time as a typical fuel fill-up. Riders pull up to the battery swapping cabinets and load in a depleted battery to receive a freshly charged pack.
So far the company has operated the first station for a month in a pilot program, seeing around 75 swaps per day at its São Paolo location. The ultimate goal is to increase to 500 stations across Brazil before expanding to other South American cities. Starting in Brazil is particularly compelling since the country’s electric grid is served by around 90% renewable energy generation.
As Vammo CEO Jack Sarvary explained:
The autonomy of electric vehicles has always been one of the reasons that have slowed down the mass adoption of this type of vehicle, but our swap stations will overcome this challenge and encourage the use of electric bikes. We are committed to promoting electrification in Latin America in a way that makes sense for consumers financially, with convenience and safety. We deeply believe it will be the key turning point to popularize electric mobility in the region.
Interestingly, the cabinets are designed with variable charging rates that can respond to current battery demand.
Vammo’s director of hardware engineering Jeff Inhofer explained how that works:
We can choose the pace of recharging according to the demand for batteries. If a location has a higher demand, we can accelerate battery charging in each compartment individually. A three-hour recharge is ideal, but we can do it in less than 45 minutes if we want to.
Inhofer, who previously led development for the V3 Supercharger at Tesla, added that the current prototype testing period will help the company refine those systems:
These prototypes will be used to ensure we have all the features needed for a safe and easy swapping experience. Testing them on the streets of Brazil allows us to make last-minute changes or improvements before we start going into mass production.
Electrek’s Take
Sign me up! Like, literally. I’d use this service in a heartbeat. Heck, I want to try one of these Vammo swaps.
In fact, I already use battery swapping in my daily life. I own a Gogoro electric scooter and I swap batteries roughly once a week. In the first 1,500 km (nearly 1,000 miles) I’ve put on the scooter, I haven’t charged it once. I just swap batteries in a few seconds at one of a dozen stations around town and continue on my way. The scooter does highway speeds, takes me everywhere I need to go, and is my main source of transportation.
And that’s exactly what Vammo is doing for Brazil, a country that hasn’t yet benefitted from the expansion of Asia’s leading battery swapping companies. Vammo also has its work cut out for it since South American electric motorcycle users often prefer higher-power rides with bigger batteries that are able to go farther and faster in more spread out communities. That means Vammo’s stations have had to account for that, and it looks like they have based on the massive doors on these battery cabinets. My Gogoro batteries are relatively small in comparison, so Vammo is definitely having to react to a different local motorcycle culture and its unique needs.
The process doesn’t look quite as slick as Gogoro’s “drop it in” stations, since it appears you still have to plug and unplug the battery yourself. But at least it’s something that the rider can do by themselves instead of needing an employee to perform any part of the battery swap.
This is definitely an exciting one to keep an eye on. I’ll be following Vammo closely to see if they can do for South America what Gogoro is doing in Asia.
Oh, and if one of these freakin’ companies wants to finally bring battery swapping to the laggards in North America and Europe, that’d be mighty appreciated! Bunch of cavemen having to slow charge our bikes over here…. grumble grumble.
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The sun has set on a frantic day of scrutineering at this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP), as teams scramble to qualify for a spot on the starting line tomorrow morning. Electrek FSGP 2025 is shaping up to be one of the event’s most attended ever, thanks to a strong showing of first-time and returning schools. But that also means new and unproven vehicles on the track.
Today, I walked through a couple of bays and talked with a few of the teams able to spare a minute; almost all of them were debuting completely new cars that were years in the making. Building a solar car is no easy feat. It’s not just the engineering and technical know-how that’s often a hurdle for them; it’s more often monetary. However, one of the things that makes this event so special is the camaraderie and collaboration that happen behind the scenes.
Northwestern University is back with a completely new car this season, its eighth since the team’s original inception in 1997 during the GM Sunrayce days. Its motor controller, which is responsible for managing the flow of power from the batteries to the motor, was given to them by the Stanford team. Stanford had extras and could spare one for Northwestern, which needed a replacement. It doesn’t stop there. Two members of the Northwestern team (Shannon and Fiona) told me four other teams helped them with a serious tire replacement around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, saving them from missing important parts of scrutineering.
This is also an exciting year for the West Virginia team, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary as a solar car team, making them one of the oldest teams on the track. With age comes wisdom though: WV is competing again this year with its single-occupant vehicle, Sunseeker. The team ran into issues after last year’s American Solar Challenge (ASC) cross-country event when the vehicle’s control arm, an important part of the suspension that connects the wheels to the chassis, broke. They tell me this year they’re back with a completely redesigned control arm made of both aluminum and steel. Thank you, Hayley, John, and Izzy, for taking the time to talk.
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We’re also seeing new builds this year from the University of Florida, the University of Puerto Rico, NC State, and UC Irvine. Believe it or not, the latter team has never competed in an American Solar Challenge/Formula Sun Grand Prix. This is their first year. UC Irvine doesn’t expect to be on the starting line tomorrow but hopes to be on the track soon after.
University of Puerto RicoUniversity of California Irvine
On the other hand, we have tried-and-proven cars like my personal favorite, Polytechnique Montréal’s Esteban, which undergoes minor improvements each year. I talked a little bit with this team today, and they told me the car’s motor was dropped, disassembled, and cleaned in preparation for the event. Polytechnique Montréal has passed scrutineering and will appear on the starting line tomorrow.
Polytechnique Montréal
Teams that haven’t wrapped up scrutineering in the last three days can still complete it, though doing so will eat into time on track.
You can learn more about the different classes and the specific rules here.
I’ll continue to post more updates as the event continues!
2025 Electrek FSGP schedule
The 2025 Electrek FSGP will again be held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which, interestingly enough, General Motors occasionally uses for Corvette testing and development. A bit of a full-circle moment being so close to the company that started it all.
The event is open to the public and FREE to attend. Come see the solar car race up close!
Racing starts on July 3 from 10am to 6pm CT and continues through July 5 from 9am to 5pm CT.
Featured image via Cora Kennedy for Electrek FSGP/ASC.
Note: The Formula Sun Grand Prix is not in any way associated or affiliated with the Formula 1 companies, FORMULA 1 racing, or the FIA Formula One World Championship.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
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Got news? Let us know! Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.
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“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Read more CNBC tech news
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.