機車界的特斯拉 臺灣電機車實踐能源創新

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Across Asia, motorized two-wheeled vehicles provide mobility for the masses, but emissions from hundreds of millions of scooters and motorcycles are responsible for more than half of traffic pollution in many cities, choking the air with hazardous levels of benzene and particulate matter, in addition to greenhouse gases.

臺灣台北——在亞洲，二輪機動車輛是民衆普遍的代步工具。不過這些難以計數的機車所排放的氣體，也得爲許多城市的交通污染負上大半責任。這些廢氣使得空氣中除了溫室氣體，還佈滿了苯與微粒物質，高達有害人體的程度。

This year, a Taiwan-based startup called Gogoro has been using the scooter-filled streets of Taipei to test its Smartscooter, an electric scooter with an efficient all-electric drive train, sleek design and Internet of Things ingenuity. But Gogoro doesn’t want to be called a scooter company. It sees itself as an energy services company at heart.

臺灣起家的新創公司“睿能新動力(Gogoro)”自今年開始，在臺北這個滿街機車的城市測試他們的智慧雙輪電動車。這是一種使用高效能全電力傳動系統的電機車，造型時髦，還是一個智慧型物聯網載具。不過Gogoro不甘於機車製造商的角色，他們自許爲一間以能源服務爲本的公司。

“What technology has done to content, it can also do to energy,” said Horace Luke, Gogoro’s chief executive. The company operates a 4G-connected network of 90 battery-swapping stations around metropolitan Taipei serving a fleet of 2,000-plus smartscooters that are challenging their gasoline-powered rivals in performance — zero to 30 in just over 4 seconds — convenience, and environmental impact.

“科技改變了我們吸收內容的方式，這種影響力也可以發揮在能源上，”Gogoro的執行長陸學森(Horace Luke)說。Gogoro在大臺北都會區設有90座電池交換站，全都有4G網路連線，爲兩千多輛智慧型電機車服務。這些機車在性能(從0加速到時速30公里只需4秒)、便利性、環境影響等方面，都在挑戰市面上與之競爭的汽油動力型機車。

The Smartscooter is quickly gaining market share. As of late November, Gogoro’s flagship vehicle accounted for 95 percent of Taipei’s electric vehicles and 5 percent of scooters overall, Mr. Luke said.

目前這些智慧型電機車正在快速搶攻市佔率。陸學森表示，至十一月下旬，Gogoro的主力車款已佔臺北市電動型機車的95%，以及總機車數量的5%。

Gogoro scooters are powered by two lithium-ion batteries that use the same Panasonic cells as Tesla batteries, with one charge enabling travel of up to 60 miles. When it’s time to swap in fresh batteries, a smartphone app offers directions to the closest station with available batteries (one is a 7-eleven convenience store). In seconds, the user replaces used batteries — which send vehicle diagnostics to the Gogoro network via Bluetooth — with the newest and most-charged batteries at the station.

Gogoro機車使用的兩個鋰電池組由松下電器(Panasonic)生產的電池芯構成，和特斯拉(Tesla)電動車的電池芯是一樣的。每次充滿電後，最遠行駛距離可達100km。需要更新電池的時候，車主可通過手機應用程序得知能取得有效電池且距離最近的交換站(其中一間還是7-11便利商店)。在這些站點上，數秒內就能取下舊電池，換上最新、電量最飽滿的電池組，而那些舊電池會將車體分析資料經由藍牙技術傳送至Gogoro服務網。

Panasonic has bought into Gogoro’s vision. In November, Gogoro announced that the Japanese company had joined the Taiwan government and the billionaire Samuel Yin as Series B, or second round, investors in Gogoro, making it the second electric vehicle maker to attract Panasonic capital, the other being Tesla. Shortly after raising $130 million in Series B funding, Gogoro announced that it would expand into Europe, beginning with Amsterdam.

松下電器與Gogoro是英雄所見略同。Gogoro在十一月時宣佈，這家日本公司已經加入臺灣政府與百萬富豪尹衍樑(Samuel Yin)的行列，成爲他們的B輪(第二輪)投資者。他們也是繼特斯拉之後，第二個吸引松下投入資金的電力運輸工具製造商。在B輪融資籌得一億三千萬美金後，Gogoro很快就宣佈他們將自阿姆斯特丹開始，進軍歐洲市場。

“The fundamentals of how people live changed in a decade with the smartphone,” Mr. Luke said. “If we put the same effort into how energy is consumed, how much can we change things in 10 years?”

“過去十年來，人們的基本生活方式因爲智慧型手機起了很大變化。”陸學森表示，“如果我們也對能源的使用投入同樣心力，接下來十年，又能造成怎樣的改變呢？”

Mr. Luke speaks from experience. He was chief innovation officer at the Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC from 2006 to 2011, helping transform the company from one that made products for other companies to a global brand. While at HTC, Mr. Luke and a colleague, Matt Taylor, began discussing their vision for a new company that would leverage technology for social impact. Being based in Taiwan — where 14 million scooters serve a population of 23 million — scooters seemed like a good place to start.

陸學森的發言源自他工作的經驗。他曾在2006至2011年間，擔任臺灣智慧型手機公司宏達電(HTC)的創意長，協助這間公司從代工廠轉型成全球品牌。當陸學森還任職於HTC的時候，他和同事麥特泰勒(Matt Taylor)就開始討論他們的共同願景，也就是藉由打造一間新創公司，使科技發揮社會影響力。由於他們身在臺灣，一個有兩千三百萬人口騎着一千四百萬輛機車的地方，所以這種交通工具似乎是個不錯的起點。

“The scooter hasn’t seen much evolution in the last 20 years,” Mr. Taylor said. “We asked ourselves if we could apply modern technology to something we see buzzing in the streets every day and make a better product in the process.”

“機車自過去二十年來似乎沒有多大的進展，”泰勒說，“我們自問，是不是能把現代科技運用在這種滿街跑的東西上，並且從中創造出更好的產品來。”

In 2011, the two men co-founded Gogoro, with Taylor as chief technology officer. They decided to rebuild the scooter from the ground up. Their initial focus was on performance and innovation, but minimizing environmental impact quickly became important.

2011年，兩人共同成立Gogoro，泰勒擔任首席技術官。他們決定從頭開始，重新設計機車。他們最初的重點在性能和創新上，但很快，把對環境的影響降低到最少變得重要起來。

In Taiwan, pollution from scooter exhaust is a public health concern. Studies have found correlations between higher measurements of the fine particulate matter classified as PM2.5 in the air and increased cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in local hospitals.

在臺灣，機車廢氣污染是一個公共衛生問題。研究發現，空氣中被劃分爲PM2.5的微小顆粒物的測量數值升高，和當地醫院慢性阻塞性肺病病例增加存在相關性。

During peak traffic hours, exhaust hangs heavy on the city’s scooter lanes, also affecting air quality for nearby pedestrians. The amount of pollutants found in emissions from a new gas scooter exceeds the pollution found in new car emissions by a factor of 100 to 1,000, said André Prév琀 of the Switzerland-based Paul Scherrer Institut. Scooters using two-stroke engines are the worst culprits, he said.

交通高峯期間，濃重的廢氣籠罩着這座城市的機車道，並影響到了附近行人的空氣質量。瑞士保羅·謝爾研究所(Paul Scherrer Institut)的安德烈·普雷沃(André Prév琀)稱，一輛新汽油機車的排放物中污染物的含量，是一輛新汽車的100到1000倍。他說最糟糕的是使用二衝程發動機的機車。

“The two-stroke engine scooter is the first vehicle to think about in terms of going all-electric, even before larger vehicles, because the pollution is much worse,” said Mr. Prév琀, who researched scooter emissions from 2010 through 2014. “It’s the logical next step in reducing traffic pollution in many Asian cities.”

“如果要使用全電力，首先要考慮的甚至不是大型車輛，而是使用二衝程發動機的機車，因爲它的污染要嚴重得多，”在2010到2014年間曾研究機車排放物的普雷沃說。“這是很多亞洲城市減少交通污染接下來應該採取的合理步驟。”

The Taipei government agrees, and is actively promoting electric scooter purchases. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection offers replacement subsidies of around $45 for residents who retire their two-stroke scooters. A subsidy of up to $800 is available to those who replace their gas motorcycles with electric scooters. Gogoro Smartscooters currently cost between $2,200 and $2,375.

認同這一觀點的臺北政府正在積極鼓勵購買電動機車。該市環境保護局向棄用二衝程機車的民衆發放約45美元的換車補貼。而用電動機車替代汽油摩托車的人，最高可獲得800美元的補貼。Gogoro智慧型電動機車目前售價在2200美元到2375美元之間。

In Gogoro’s most recent round of funding, the government also invested $30 million via its Taiwan Development Fund. The company appeals to a government concerned by the vulnerability of its semiconductor industry, an economic pillar that faces increasing competition from China. “They see Gogoro as a huge opportunity for furthering the tech sector,” Mr. Luke said.

在Gogoro最近的一輪融資中，政府也通過臺灣發展基金投資了3000萬美元。作爲臺灣經濟支柱的半導體行業面臨着大陸日益激烈的競爭，其脆弱性讓政府擔憂，這家公司因此就有了吸引力。“他們認爲Gogoro是進一步推動科技業的巨大機遇，”陸學森說。

Taiwanese themselves have welcomed Gogoro. Elaine Kuan, a 29-year-old corporate accountant in Taipei, said she bought her Smartscooter in late July for its ease of riding and convenient technology, but also for its low environmental impact.

臺灣人自己也對Gogoro持歡迎態度。29歲的臺北公司會計伊蓮·關(Elaine Kuan)說自己在7月末買了一輛智慧型電動機車，因爲它好騎，技術方便，對環境的影響也小。

“I have asthma, so air pollution is a big deal to me,” Ms. Kuan said. “I hope that starting with myself I can slowly influence others and make the planet a place without vehicle emission pollution.”

“我有哮喘，所以空氣污染對我來說是大問題，”她說。“我希望從自己做起，再能慢慢影響其他人，讓地球成爲一個沒有機動車尾氣污染的地方。”

Performance and convenience were the two main reasons Darren Liu, a 31-year-old pastry chef, bought his Smartscooter. “The riding experience and acceleration are much better than my previous gas-powered bike,” Mr. Liu said. “It’s the first electric scooter I’ve seen that can get up into the hills.” The battery swap model was also a big selling point. His previous experience using a relative’s electric scooter required hours of charging, compared with 30 seconds to swap his Gogoro batteries.

性能和方便是31歲的糕點師達倫·劉(Darren Liu)買智慧型電動機車的兩大原因。“騎行體驗和加速都比我之前那輛汽油機車好很多，”他說。“這是我看到的第一輛能上山的電動機車。”電池交換模式也是一大賣點。他之前用親戚的電動機車時，充電要好幾個小時，而現在他的Gogoro電池只用30秒便可完成交換。

As it expands beyond greater Taipei to Taoyuan — where it is headquartered — and the tech hub Hsinchu, Gogoro is exploring the possibilities offered by a growing network of battery stations.

隨着從大臺北地區擴展到其總部所在地桃源和科技中心新竹，Gogoro正在探索一個不斷擴大的電池交換站網絡所帶來的可能性。

“At our core, we’re an energy company,” Mr. Taylor said. “Once the mix is actually working, it’s readily scalable.” The stations cost less than $10,000, have a small footprint and require only an outlet and Internet access, he said.

“本質上，我們是一家能源公司，”泰勒說。“一旦二者的結合真的起作用了，就容易拓展了。”他表示，電池交換站的成本不到1萬美元，碳足跡小，只需要一個插座和互聯網接入。

Mr. Luke said his company envisions an open system in which other companies develop products that can use Gogoro’s batteries.

陸學森表示，公司設想的是一個開放的系統。在這個系統中，其他公司也能開發使用Gogoro電池的產品。

Many companies — in fields as diverse as robotics, logistics and appliances — have inquired, he said. But he added that Gogoro’s longer-term vision was focused on “how to take energy and give it back to the grid when it needs it most.”

他說，很多公司都來打聽過。這些公司所處的領域多種多樣，如機器人、物流和電器。但他接着表示，Gogoro的長遠側重點在“如何取電用電，並在電網最需要的時候把電回饋給電網。”

Gogoro’s entrance into the market this year comes as car companies including General Motors, Ford and Daimler-Benz are beginning to view themselves as service providers rather than manufacturers.

Gogoro今年進入這個市場之際，正值通用汽車(General Motors)、福特(Ford)和戴姆勒-奔馳(Daimler-Benz)等車企開始把自己當做服務供應商而非製造商。

“There’s a transformation in the market where companies are being expected to expand into energy services,” said John Gartner of the consultancy Navigant Research. Companies that get involved in electric-powered mobility will naturally move toward stationary storage, he said.

“市場發生了變革，企業被寄予了進入能源服務的期望，”諮詢公司Navigant Research的約翰·加特納(John Gartner)說。他表示，進入電動車領域的公司自然會向靜態儲存的方向發展。

“They’re looking to expand both markets by getting to economies of scale faster,” Mr. Gartner added.

“他們希望通過更快形成規模經濟來開拓這兩個市場，”加特納說。

Mr. Luke said that taking the scooter to Amsterdam in the first half of 2016 would provide a platform for demonstrating the role of Gogoro’s scooters and battery stations to new markets.

陸學森表示，智慧型電動機車將在2016年上半年進入阿姆斯特丹，這會提供一個向新市場展示Gogoro電動機車和電池站所扮演角色的平臺。

“If you think about smart cities in the world today, Amsterdam comes up in the top three, if not the top one,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of success in Taipei. We’re taking that momentum and building on that to move into Europe quickly.”

“想到當今世界的智慧型城市，阿姆斯特丹即便不是第一，至少也是前三，”他說。“我們在臺北看到了巨大成功。我們正藉着這股勢頭，希望以此爲基礎迅速進入歐洲。”