ガソリンスタンド追い抜く？　バイク用バッテリー交換所　台湾

【台北ＡＦＰ＝時事】台湾・台北を行き交う無数の二輪車。多くはガソリンスタンドで給油をするが、エイデン・リーさんは、近年、台湾で増えているバッテリー交換所へと電動バイクを走らせる。（写真は台湾・台北市内のバイク通勤の風景）
　バッテリー交換所は、化石燃料からの転換を一気に加速させると開発者らは期待を寄せる。
　「正直なところ、ガソリンスタンドでの給油よりもずっと早いバッテリー交換がなかったら、電動バイクには乗らなかったでしょう」とリーさん。
　リーさんが使用しているのは、台湾のスタートアップ企業「ゴゴロ」の充電式バッテリーだ。同社によると現在の契約者は４５万人で、毎日平均３３万本のバッテリー交換が行われている。
　リーさんによると、バッテリーは毎月のガソリン代より１割ほど高くつく。
　アジア地域での市場拡大と、米証券取引所への上場を目指すゴゴロは、台湾全土のコンビニエンスストアの前や駐車場内に計２３００か所を超えるバッテリー交換所を配している。電動バイクの利用者はここで空になった電池を、充電済み電池と交換する。
　ゴゴロの創業者ホレイス・ルーク最高責任者（ＣＥＯ）は、バッテリーも交換所もコンパクトですむこの技術は、自動車よりもバイクに適していると語る。
　「四輪車用はインフラの建設が必要ですが、わが社のシステムは自動販売機のようなものです。消費者が出かける場所、燃料を必要とする場所に合わせて、さまざまな場所に設置できます」
　ゴゴロによると、台湾の主要４都市では、すでにバッテリー交換所の数がガソリンスタンドを上回っている。
　 ２０１５年以降、これまでに交換されたバッテリーは２億４０００万本を超える。これにより、約３６万トンの二酸化炭素（ＣＯ２）の排出を抑えたという。
　ルーク氏は「世界が今日、持続可能性を追求し、地球温暖化と気候変動の抑制を模索している中、われわれは新たな産業を創出する解決法に取り組んでいます」と語る。
　台湾政府の統計によると、同国のバイク全体の売り上げのうち、電動バイクは２１％を占めている。一方、従来のガソリンエンジンのバイクの売り上げは毎年２桁減となっている。
　さらにゴゴロでは世界最大級のバイク市場である中国、インド、インドネシアへの進出を視野に入れている。どれもスモッグ汚染の激しい都市を抱える国だ。
　ルーク氏は「バッテリー交換は形勢を一変させました。そしてこれからも流れを変えていくのです」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/02/08-10:43）

Every day, Aiden Lee joins the hundreds of thousands of people getting around Taipei on two wheels.
But when most of his fellow riders head to a petrol pump to refuel, he takes his e-motorbike to one of Taiwan's increasingly commonplace battery-swapping stations -- tech its creators say could supercharge the shift from fossil fuels.
Honestly, if it weren't for battery swapping -- which by the way is even faster than filling up at a petrol station -- I wouldn't use an electric bike, the marketing executive said.
I don't think I have the time to wait for the battery to charge.
Lee has used the rechargeable batteries provided by Taiwanese startup Gogoro since 2015, putting him among the 450,000 subscribers who swap an average of 330,000 batteries each day, according to company figures.
He says it costs about 10 percent more than buying petrol each month.
Now eyeing regional expansion and a New York listing, Gogoro has more than 2,300 stations outside convenience stores or in car parks across Taiwan, where e-moped riders stop to exchange depleted batteries for freshly charged cells.
- Quick swap -
Previous attempts to roll out battery swaps have proved tricky, especially for electric cars.
Companies in China, the United States and Israel have struggled to provide easy access to swappable batteries for e-cars, in part because of the high cost of building charging facilities and the time needed to charge much larger cells.
But the tech works better for mopeds, said Gogoro founder and chief executive Horace Luke, as the batteries and stations need not be so large.
Instead of the four-wheeler infrastructure that needs to be built, our system is really like a vending machine that goes into different locations based on where the consumer goes and where the consumer needs energy, he said.
The facilities already outnumber petrol stations in four major Taiwanese cities, the company said, and vice-president Alan Pan told a news conference last week that the firm's goal for 2022 was to surpass the number of petrol stations island-wide.
With more than 240 million battery swaps since 2015, Gogoro says it has kept about 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
We are working on solutions that... create a new industry as the world looks now to sustainability and how to curb global warming and climate change, Luke told AFP in an interview.
According to government sales figures, e-bikes make up 21 percent of all motorbikes in Taiwan, with sales of traditional petrol models in double-digit decline annually.
- India, China, Indonesia -
Luke said that, through local partnerships, Gogoro was moving to expand into the world's largest motorbike markets: China, India and Indonesia -- all countries with smog-choked cities.
The company has teamed up with top players in the industry, including Hero MotoCorp in India, the world's biggest motorcycle maker, China's world-leading e-bike maker Yadea and, most recently, Indonesian ride-hailing firm Gojek.
In China its battery-swapping system was launched in October in the city of Hangzhou, with plans to expand to other places this year.
The push could benefit from major government incentives for e-vehicles in the giant Asian countries.
Last year, India rolled out $3.5 billion in incentives for the auto sector to boost production of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, while Indonesia has offered tax perks for manufacturers, transport companies and consumers.
Gogoro plans to list on the Nasdaq in the first quarter of this year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, establishing an entity valued at $2.35 billion.
Global sales of electric motorbikes, scooters and mopeds are estimated to have topped 25 million units in 2020, or 35 percent of total sales of two-wheeled vehicles, according to BloombergNEF.
And market research firm Guidehouse Insights says battery swapping has become a legitimate technology platform solution that is being exported to original equipment manufacturers in foreign markets.
Countries in Southeast Asia with strong two-wheeler cultures, high urban density rates, supportive policy frameworks for EVs, and a strong desire to reduce urban air pollution will likely be next in line, it said in a report.
Luke added: I think battery swapping was a real game changer and is a real game changer.