Gogoro promised something special in ebikes, and the Gogoro Eeyo 1 delivers, aiming to buck the trend in powered cycling with a sleeker, lighter, and generally more fun way to get around.
It’s a departure for Gogoro, which has been developing electric scooters for the past years. Equipped with removable batteries, the Gogoro Smartscooter can now tap into a network of Go stations in multiple cities, with riders quickly switching out the power packs rather than waiting for a recharge.
There’ll be two modes, Sport and Eco. Sport mode will have around 40 miles of range, and be focused on naturally amplifying your own power. “It’s not about comfort, it’s about the thrill of the ride,” Luke warns. Maximum speed assistance is 19 mph for the US Eeyo, or 25 kmh (15.5 mph) in the EU/Asia version.
Eco mode, meanwhile, prolongs the range to 55 miles; if you start to run out of charge in Sport mode, the ebike will automatically switch over. The promise is that Eeyo’s intelligent power assist will learn and adapt to how you ride, so that you get the maximum reward from it. Because of that, it’s smarter than it looks.
The key is the Eeyo Smartwheel. Rather than take a standard bike and then bolt electrification to it, or begin at the opposite direction and dress up a battery and electric motor to make them rideable, Eeyo built its own powered wheel hub. Almost everything is produced in-house, as a result, and squeezed into the middle of the bike’s rear wheel.
There’s a 250W motor and a 123 Wh battery. That’s small for an ebike, but it makes it quick to recharge: 2.5 hours from flat to full, Gogoro says. Torque sensors track how much pedal power the rider is putting in, and then adds the right amount of assistance so that it feels balanced and natural.
Gogoro calls it Intelligent Power Assist, and it gradually learns from the rider to improve their own power, cadence, and riding style. The result is “agility and fun over utility,” Luke says.
When it comes to recharging, Gogoro will bundle a charging stand with the Eeyo 1s (it’ll be sold separately for Eeyo 1 owners). Or, there’ll be a wired, horseshoe-shaped charger that clips around the Smartwheel hub. Rather than a chain drive, the ebike uses the Gates Carbon Drive system, which should be more durable and doesn’t require lubrication.
