The original plan at the end of last year wasThe first overseas market service station will be launched in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in the summerHowever, Gogoro announced earlier that it will first launch the service in Berlin, Germany, and will further promote vehicle sharing and rental services, allowing Berlin citizens to use Gogoro smart two-wheelers on a rental basis.
Upon further inquiry, Gogoro responded that due to the rapid progress in negotiations with COUP, a subsidiary of Bosch Group, Berlin, Germany became the first stop for Gogoro to launch its service in the overseas and European markets. At the same time, the service provided in the Berlin area is temporarily operating in a trial mode and will be adjusted based on actual usage.
The partnership negotiations with Amsterdam, Netherlands, launched late last year involved integrating resources with government agencies and partner companies, while infrastructure development required time. This, combined with the faster completion of negotiations with COUP, allowed Berlin to overtake Gogoro in Europe. As for the expected launch date for service in Amsterdam, Gogoro is maintaining its original schedule of summer 2016, but the exact date remains uncertain.
The service offered in Berlin doesn't rely on a vehicle-and-battery rental model like in Taiwan, where users can swap batteries at a GoStation for continued use. Instead, it uses customized vehicles certified by the German government for a 3 euro per half-hour fee or 20 euros per day. To use this service, citizens must hold a car or motorcycle license and can search for nearby available vehicles using the COUP app. They can also make online reservations and pay for the rental through the app.
In a similar way, Gogoro has previously provided services in the Xiaoliuqiu area of Taiwan, allowing local residents and tourists to rent Gogoro smart two-wheelers for short-term transportation, which is actually similar to UBike's bicycle rental.
However, since rental services are usually negotiated individually between manufacturers and Gogoro, future service launches in regions such as Amsterdam may not necessarily adopt the same model. There are also no plans to provide similar services in Taiwan at this stage.
