First Click: Go go Gogoro

Like Vlad Savov, I didn’t know that I wanted a Gogoro until it breached a level of intimacy. For Vlad, it was seeing it up close in the company’s home of Taipei, for me it was learning that Gogoro was coming to my home of Amsterdam, the first city in the Western world to receive it. But this isn’t a story of love at first sight.

Image: Gogoro

I’ve been watching Gogoro with interest ever since Chris Ziegler introduced the world to it at CES in January. (Coincidentally, it was Chris who first told the world about the iPhone while seated next to me at CES in 2007.) I liked the Gogoro, and could see the potential of a smart electric scooter with HTC pedigree. But any desire was tempered by the lack of a price tag and an ambiguous launch scheduled. That all changed yesterday with the announcement of Gogoro’s European expansion.

Chris actually told me the news a few days prior with a brief, but breathless, message in Slack:

"OMG @thomasricker ARE YOU HERE BIG NEWS" (his emphasis, not mine)

Since then, I caught myself fabricating a list of reasons to justify the purchase of something I don’t really need but I sure as hell want. Here’s the list so far:

• As a writer for The Verge, I should promote my personal #brand via a technologically advanced mode of transportation
• Gogoro's range will get me to the beach and back on a single charge and I really should spend more time outdoors
• I can delay a remodeling project to pay for it — who needs a roof terrace anyway when you’ve got the beach
• My wife can be home more because it’ll get her to work and back faster
• My son will be better at soccer because he won't have to cycle an hour to his away games
• A scooter will help me meet my neighbors when I ask to park it in their garage
• I should help my adopted country of The Netherlands beat Norway as the leader in electric vehicle adoption

I could go on, but why bother, I’ve already convinced myself.