Yesterday I met with Horace Luke, co-founder, chairman and chief executive of privately held Gogoro, based in Taipei, Taiwan, which makes electric scooters and the charging infrastructure to power them.

The occasion for Luke's visit was the announcement this afternoon that Gogoro has received $300 million in financing from several heavy hitters in investment and industry, including Singapore-based investment fund Temesek; Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management; Japanese industrial giant Sumitomo; and Engie, a French energy...