I like the idea of Batteries as a Service, and I could see it working in some US cities for scooters.
Many consumers just don't want to worry about battery health. Reportedly, battery degradation anxiety is driving down used EV prices in the US.
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(Gouach co-founder here) A lot of people would prefer to not have to care, but many of them do care because they know it's the major "consumable" part of their $3000+ e-bike investment, and they want to know if it will last long, if it's robust, and if it can be repaired in case it's needed
Additionally, we've seen more and more customers wary of the environmental and social cost (children mines, etc) linked to lithium batteries, and who are looking for more durable solutions
In China they have car battery swap stations. For such batteries, owenership does not make much sense, so a subscription model indeed seems logical. The monthly fee covers the cost it takes for the company to replace worn cells; electricity could be charged separately for cars. For scooters, since the batteries are easy to swap yourself, buying and swapping a new battery is not that big of a deal, so I don't see subscriptions working as well there as for cars.
(Gouach co-founder) Yes! Our battery would be perfect for a swap business, they could easily fix damaged batteries, repair cells (only $50, instead of buying a new battery at $300 retailer price), and at the end, they could even retrieve used cells to sell them back for energy storage applications!
Gogoro is a borderline scam.
There are not multiple battery providers. You can only get batteries through gogoro and they dictate the price (it govt fixed for X amount of year and then who knows what happensl. Till recently you couldn't charge the scooter/batteries at home (even now it's made impractical)
You in effect are renting your vehicle
It's only successful in Taiwan due to slick marketing and intense nationalism