What happened
Already off to a good start in 2023, shares of electric vehicle battery-swapping specialist Gogoro (GGR 1.33%) kept motoring ahead this week. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, since the close of trading on Jan. 13, the company's shares have risen by slightly over 9%. Investors were encouraged by a new deal in India.
So what
On Tuesday, Gogoro announced that, in partnership with privately held peer Belrise Industries, it has entered a "strategic energy partnership," with the Indian state of Maharashtra. The two companies will split 50/50 an estimated $2.5 billion investment into the build-out of energy infrastructure throughout the state.
Together, Gogoro and Belrise have ambitions to establish a network of electric vehicle (EV) battery-swapping and smart-battery stations that would serve as a major source of energy storage, and provide an ideal mobility solution.
Maharashtra is a massive region of western India. It is home to the country's second-largest city, Mumbai, and is one of the more industrialized states in that country.
"The future of smart sustainable cities and countries is not about a single company or government but about a community coming together to instill a new way of thinking and a new way of utilizing sustainable energy in an open and accessible way," Gogoro founder and CEO Horace Luke said in the press release announcing the arrangement.
"This partnership represents the future and this new way of thinking," he added.
Now what
Gogoro is making big strides in the Asia-Pacific region. News of the India deal came shortly after the company reported that it was No. 1 in electric scooter sales in the island nation of Taiwan. That part of the world is extremely populous, and good mobility solutions there are always needed. Gogoro seems to be doing a good job of providing them.
