A Gogoro electric scooter rider stranded near the top of the 3,275-meter Wuling Pass after his batteries died Saturday was rescued by a police officer on patrol, according to the Hualien County police.

The rider, surnamed Wu (?), had already crossed Provincial Highway 14A’s highest point after setting out from Taichung but was forced to turn back just a few kilometers into his descent into Hualien due to a road closure, police said in a statement.

According to police, a helpless-looking and juiceless Wu was found stranded with several kilometers still left to climb the summit of the Wuling Pass by an officer surnamed Lin (?).

With the nearest battery-swapping GoStation located at a 7-11 convenience store in Qingjing Farm about 36 kilometers away, Lin got Wu to remove the two batteries on his Gogoro and then drove him to a nearby bus station.

Wu was able to board the bus around 10 a.m. Saturday before returning to his Gogoro with fully charged batteries around 2:15 p.m. to resume his journey, police said.

Police said that Wu was the third Gogoro rider this year to be found stuck near the top of the Wuling Pass due to dead batteries, adding he had been lucky because there was a seasonal bus running.

A previous case in February, when no such service was running, had to wait almost five hours before police were able to get him back on the road.

A pair of Gogoro batteries have a maximum range of around 55 kilometers on the steep climbs of the Wuling Pass, but there is nearly 109 km separating battery-swapping GoStations on the two provincial highways, 14A and 8, that cover the route.

As a result, police called on electric scooter riders to appeal to the Taiwan-based Gogoro to build extra GoStations along the scenic route to prevent similar strandings in the future.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel