Individual ownership of electric scooters seem like a good idea to reduce use of gas powered cars. But they are polluting cities streets and with their short lifespan, end up in landfills. Not environmentally friendly at all
Scooters are everywhere in Montevideo , I haven’t tried them yet prices are quite appealing around 50c to unlock and 10c per minute, but they are crowding the already narrow sidewalks and streets of the older parts of the city.
They are the worst, you should be able to scan a QR code on them when people leave them in the middle of the street and the person who left them should get fined or blocked from using them. I know people could just move them but I'm sure there is a solution to that
the destruction of the scooters have nothing to do with Environment it's more of not being able to communicate with the service providers about issues they are having like being over charged for a ride.
People should be encouraged to park the scooter after usage at designated places, like with shopping carts. Like, you pay two dollar to use it, but you get one dollar back if you park it where you're supposed to, instead of just dumping it anywhere. If a scooter gets dumped anyway someone else can pick it up and take it to the designated spot to collect the dollar. (Part of the) Problem solved.
Wonder if going one step further and having charging stations in strategic locations would be good. You can drop them anywhere, but you get a discount if they are recharged for the next rider. Would potentially have less downtime and longer battery life.
There should be thousands of those spots because let's say you are in a rush to go the office or elsewhere but you gotta take the scooter to the far away parking place to get your dollar back..
Laura Warner how exactly are electric, fumes-free scooters ruining the enviroment? You might as well argue that bicycles are polluting the enviroment. It’s extremely enviromentally friendly. Much more pollution is produced by DESTROYING them than by using them...
@@apollodiomedes203 Those scooters were a bad idea to begin with. They cause lots of pollution in production, they contain lots of non recyclable parts, they are collected in gas gulping SUVs when they run of charge and so on and so forth. Not to mention how detrimental they are to the city environment. The companies put them wherever they please disregardind laws and street etiquette, so do the riders. Since the local governments won't do anything about this issue people have to take matters into their own hands and show that these companies are not welcome in our communities.
The company was/is a huge success: venture capital providing millions (1st rule of business, pay yourself first) and a company even went public. People became millionaires! In today's short sighted Trump-enomics it sounds like scooter CEOs are winning. As long as you incorporated, it's your money without any liability.
Pretty sure you're right. A Lot of people here in Germany don't like them, but nobody breaks them or pushes them over. I rarely even see them knocked over.
Yes, and THAT is ecological, as a simple back of the envelope calculation shows that an escooter uses about 50 times less energy than a car on the same distance and thus emits at the very least 50 times less greenhouse gases, even if the electricity is coal generated.
@@samuelahmed659 If I may. I have the Segway Max with 40 mile range. Bought it in October of 2019 going strong still. Powering up SF hills and conquering flats with authority in Sacramento. Love it.
@@rxonmymind8362 I'm thinking of buying a ninebot max for school commute. Is the ninebot good in light rain and possibly light dusting of snow if you know?
there is no wan on earth bird are paying over $500 per scooter. You can buy the EXACT scooter from China for around $300, plus with their purchasing power, they must be paying less than $200 per scooter.
I just bought the exact same scooter for 400. I agree a company like bird is probably paying 100 bucks a scooter and even with gps and some extras they are paying maybe 300 tops.
@@NightmareFuelsYou i dont think they actualy compete. No one is going to take a scooter for 2 miles. Though i have no idea whats the average scooter ride
because they're horrible, people leave them laying across sidewalks and in the way of ramps, blocking entrances and generally making disabled folks' lives even harder than normal
@@RockeroNato Nah fam, rideshare drives saw a drop in business almost overnight. I drive Uber and Lyft myself. I've never vandalized a scooter but like many people, I was pretty irked by them for many reasons
Lime and Bird usually purchase a modified version of model Segway Ninebot ES4 which costs roughly $700. These scooters go faster and have a longer usage span.
@@XPfirePlayz you mean the extra battery. Yes. But 700 is for the public. If I had to buy a spare it would make my total cost around 500. Not 700. And yes they have another mod with a chip, stickers,... But Im still guessing a max cost per scooter of 350-400
Like most tech startups. It's about the Pump n Dump. The founders get a bunch of venture capitalists to give them money. They put out a marginal business. Then they cash out before their share of the company goes down in inflated value.
Ideally they wud want to IPO and they can sell out like snapchat~ That way it doesn't matter if they go bankrupt and they get free money from the Public investors.
The solution to a longer scooter life span is that the individuals must purchase their own scooter. They will take care of the product then. Scooter companies should move away from selling scooter rides to selling safe parking spaces fitted to recharge the scooter
Just buy your own M365 scooter they cost around 250/350 euro. Spend around 35 euro on upgrades like hintch rubber, rear fender support, magnetic reflextion sticker and waterproof battery cover. Now 2650km futher and its still rocks.
Werner Lindeboom I had many issues with my m365... rear fender broke itself off due to the upgraded airless tires. It also completely ripped the scooter side of the brake light harness off, and I had to rewire it. At about 500 miles I had to replace the motor controller, motor, and brakes. I also had those little 3d printed wedges due to the poor design of the folding and stem mechanism. The airless tires were completely unforgiving on San Diego streets and there’s no suspension on them. Additionally since the replacement of those two motor components I am unable to connect with the Segway app. I sold it and got an Ecoreco m5 through their RAD program and got a scooter with under 20 charge cycles and under 200 miles on it for the same price as a new m365.
That 28 day figure has a really dubious source. When that article was written, all of the scooter companies were in the process of upgrading their fleet. I've seen many scooters which have been out in my neighborhood for at least a year (they're the gen 1 birds). I also think it's the chargers who are putting more stress on these things than the riders. I see them getting thrown around pretty haphazardly in the back of trucks, cars, etc.
@@InXLsisDeo because bird stopped deploying the original model of scooter, and upgraded through several generations. Yet I still kept seeing the (at least 1 year old) original xiaomi m365 scooters that they started with.
Yeah those prices are WAY off from what the scooters actually cost. Consumers can buy spec for spec equivalent scooters for like $300 on Amazon. A company buying in bulk directly from the manufacturer? Gonna get way less expensive. I cant imagine one of those scooters costing more than $250, but more than likely it's way less. Also, the destroyed and vandalized scooters represent only a small margin of the scooters out there. In fact it is rare enough that scooter drops large enough to make any kind of real impact on the scooter count in a city is enough to make news. Also, from what I understand those number of vandalism's are dropping now that the scooters are less controversial and generally more understood and accepted than they were a year ago. They also have a ton more data on usage and are tailoring scooters to match where they can. Their biggest existential risk right now is regulation, not profitability.
2:33 3.5 rides per day, only calculated as generating $2.32 in revenue when it's a dollar to unlock the scooter in the first place? something doesn't add up...
@@jasperdiscovers with a base price of $1 those $2.32 can't be total for all 3,5 daily rides, unless its about profit and not revenue. However, if its a revenue of $2.32 per ride, it would add up to about $234 during those 28.8 days, significantly more than the $60 as presented. So one can only assume that they've deducted maintenance and other costs from that, which essentially would mean that the $2.32 are revenue, while the $60 are profit. That there is no such declaration on the second number makes this quite confusing.
E-scooters is just a part of the transportation solution for congested cities. Scooters and bicycles need infrastructure as well. Just like roads are built for cars, we need travel corridors for bicycles and e-scooters. The current idea of using walkways and footpaths is not sustainable for large scale movement
Herein Hoboken NJ, We have a scooter share but they are not allowed on the sidewalks. They must use bike lanes. or roads if there are no lanes. Works fine actually as long as people are following the rules. The real problem are the idiots on the sidewalks and going the wrong way up one way streets. If your city already has bike lanes its perfect.
Guys, this is just wrong. The title says "Electric scooters may not be around for long…". This video is talking about the rideshare companies and shareable electric scooters. What about personal electric scooters that you OWN. So that means that my electric scooter that I BOUGHT would just disappear and would not be there? Look, Segway-Ninebot wouldn't just disappear because their electric scooters wouldn't sell, they have more products like robotic delivery systems, robo-police, onewheels and other leisure products. So basically rideshare companies might disappear but the personal scooter market could and would stay. Moral of this story: the title should be fixed to "Electric scooter *rideshare companies* may not be around for long…".
yeah.. specially if you put it on a city full of self entitled people. 3:09 watch how a suppose to be civilize people behave LOL it doesn't matter if you make it more rugged .. a single self entitle individual is enough to break one of those. . .
Yeah but that's a viral trend like eating tide pods. Eventually, douchebags stop caring and only a handful will find entertaining enough to do. It won't stop the problem but might make it more sustainable.
while people will always vandalize, but the vandalization of scooters is abnormal because they are a novelty. eventually people will get bored of destroying scooters and the vandalism rate will drop to more normal levels.
30 days? What did break? The batteries? The motor? What are the top 5 scooters these companies are using? There is just a bunch of unsourced/ungrounded information in this video.
I work for a scooter company. We drop 60 brand new scooter we are lucky if we get 50 back. They need a better gps and coding so people can’t bypass them and make them personal scooters. Even the new scooter are getting stolen and made into personal.
Well I bought one last year but mine is two wheel drive unlike these rentals... It has blown me away with its speed and fun factor... I use it to run my Huskey dog.. it works better than attached to a pedal bike and she took to it like a fish in water.. five years of pulling my arms off now she has to keep up to me... Priceless!!!
I think you got the math 100% wrong on scooters. 2:14 Price = 500 USD 5 months * 30 * 5 rides/day = 750 rides. Minimum fare is 1$ + 15cent Average fare is ~4$ So that would be about 750 *4 = 3000 $ revenue $3000 $ - 500 USD cost = 2500 NET PROFIT after 5 months. That's insanely profitable. That's why they grow so fast.
I think if you own one personally you’re going to look after it like a child,if you’re only hiring something for a dollar a day you’re not really going to be fussed about banging it about
Technological advances will solve this problem. There hasn't been a piece of technology that doesn't become cheaper to produce AND higher quality at the same time each passing year.
@@MinimotorsUnitedKingdom Most trafficked areas, typical routes people use, which shops they stop at. You can create a whole demographic based on movement and provide targeted ads that way.
I use a non-electric Xooter kick scooter and love it! It is very useful for getting around our downtown area where parking can be tough and good exercise. As far as vandalizing scooters...WHY? If you don't like electric scooters, don't use them. Pushing them over, using them for stunts, setting them on fire, throwing them in lakes, these people are morons. When everyone owns something, no one owns it and this applies to some people's mindset of these scooters and they treat them as such. We all share this environment so people should not be endangering it with their bad behavior regardless of what they think of electric scooters. Before we can take advantage of advanced technology, our society must first advance. Sad but true.
Bird pays way less than 360 per scooter. Closer to $50-$100. Remember these are made in China with some of the cheapest parts available. It costs about $25 to manufacture a xitomi mi scooter in shenxing.
Rideshare scooters do not make sense for all the reasons you mentioned, BUT owned scooters totally have a place in our congested cities. It has been proven that people look after what they have had to put their hard earned money into versus some "rental" unit. This has always been true with cars, so.....enough said.
These electric scooters are a menace for people who are blind and have mapped out the city and their mind how did they know that the end of the sidewalk is blocked with a bunch of scooters? Secondly, their horrible for people who are in wheelchairs how is somebody that is wheelchair-bound supposed to move a bunch of scooters out of the way so they can get down the sidewalk unabated?
Scooters are getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. Many retail units are very good and only costs $350. I wonder what they cost at wholesale. Each scooter may only have to reach 1.5 months to be profitable.
I'm in a xiaomi scooter fb group, people say they make even 3000km without any major problems. a brand new car's oil change in authorised service (well mostily incuded in the price of the new car) costs about the same as any basic e-scooter (300-400€) but it willepend on roads quality and how you'll threat it on it... scooters with suspension theoretically should have less problems...
Negative profitability didn't stop uber, lyft, and host of other tech companies to become multi-billion dollar companies. These companies have plan to be profitable in the future or they have exit plan. You can't always value tech companies (or any other companies for that matter) by it's current status of profitability.
An obvious solution would be to charge a liability deposit for each rider; then return said deposit minus the cost of use... That way riders have the option to drop off & lock up @ designated areas per hour or take the scooter home for days at a different lower cost effective rate overall... After inputting said policy there; would be less wear & tear from the elements & vandalism...
I have a Segway by ninebot and it just break today after 1 month of use ... I just passed on top of a speed bump on my way to work and the scooter stopped accelerating and left me without brake. I really thought that these scooters were a good choice to leave the car home. Guess i was wrong!
the scooters could easily be made pofitable, just make it so the battery packs can be serviced, wheels replaced, and the bearings can be lubedd and eventually replaced, the frame could be banged up over time but who cares about that if it still functions, servicing the scooters could take as little as 10 minutes and it would be a lot cheaper than replacing the whole thing, in case of events such as throwing them into water they could either waterproof the battry pack by sealing it in plastic with only 2 contacts leading out so it can still be changed out or just replace them upon damage like that
Intentionally destroying/dumping an eScooter is akin to certain nimrods destroying their electric guitar(s) on stage - plenty of schools for example could really use them. Pure stupidity and waste!
Love seeing this video now Jan 1 2022 and Electric scooters being the fastest growing method of travel. Guess Electric scooters will be around for awhile. Rental scooters, I dont think so but privately owned ones are def here to stay.
Also consider that people could eventually buy their own scooters, that might become a movement too. Why continue paying the $1+.15 per minute when you could pay $30+ (fun fact, the most basic razor scooter only costs $30, and their electric ones aren't even that much more) and have your own ride without having to pay (you don't have to pull out your phone) every-time you need transportation.
Hey Man You may wanna change your title To Business Escooters, You forget to think about the personal owners.... Coz i have mine for almost 7months. everyday usage from house to work but still no issues. (Ninebot Segway ES2)..,
EXACTLY,,im 63,,240 lbs,,i flyyyy on my zero10x like a bird,,,,EVERYDAY now for 3 months.Besttttt purchase i Everrrr made..i live in Chicago Illinois. 😎
I bought my own mijia 365 scooter as soon as it was released to get to work. 4 miles a day. Still working well, still loving it and using it. The problem may be owner more than the scooter itself in terms of life. Have your own scooter and drive carefully, it's not a toy it can kill someone, including yourself.
Can someone explain to me the math this guy does on the revenue generated per scooter? 28.8 days X 3.5 times a day X *$2.32 per ride = $234 NOT $67 . . What am I missing?
When visiting Austin my friends and I actually bumped into an executive of one of the major scooter companies while at a food cart one early morning. Naturally, as we were three MBAs who all have our own businesses, we started a conversation and naturally asked random questions to back into the unit economics of the business. The numbers were not too far off of Verge's research. The only factors were that the vandalism rates were less than 0.5% and we calculated a payout for the scooters after 2.5 months. Average ride was 13 minutes for about $3/ride. I forget the average rides per day he had mentioned, but I think it was above 6x/day. This was for a city with much better riding weather though. Obviously this is based off of the numbers told to us, so you gotta take that with a grain of salt. But the big thing was that they were focused on manufacturing their own scooters that were less costly to make and more reliable and durable. That was big swing factor to get the company to grow faster and more sustainably.
when the company is geting profit.. its not in the verge narative to call it bad company. so lets make this story horrible so this company dies sooner. :)
This is exactly the Verge's conclusion as well. Companies developing their own longer lasting scooters with money from investors who want to believe, but ultimately, that costs more money. The catch22. The money injection rapidly causes the company to grow, but. Is it sustainable?
probably you're right. and... this is not a problem of scooters itself. it's just people vandalising everything that they didn't directly paid for. also transportation itself (so excluding manufacturing of vehicles) isn't that big pollution problem as they said. the manufacturing of vehicles and all other things does most damage to the environment. Producing one car (it doesn't matter if it's electric or gasoline) pollutes environment as much as driving it for 8 years IIRC. So if we want to less pollute - we should use our cars for at least 8 years. Sounds funny, yeah? I don't know how much pollution it generates to produce an electric scooter.
@@AndradeSamir Do you know there is actually blind people in the world, who can't see the bikes before they trip and fall on one, there is emergency vehicles who can get stuck on one ( happened in my city, an ambulance could not get to the sick Persson as it had drive over a bike and got stuck). That's why you need clearence, confirmation and approval. Kid
In Brisbane, Australia, we have Helmet Laws. So the Lime Scooters are required to have helmets which adds to the cost overhead. In the morning you will see them have helmets hanging off them... by the end of the day they dont. They get left behind by users who don't want to wear them. They already went through all the "Lime" helmets they purchased for their "trail" and started buying cheap helmets in bulk and throwing Stickers on them... and now you rarely see the helmets we did 4 months ago, so currently most people using them are flouting the law. Also the staffing, recovery and recharging seems impractical too.
Great video. But I have two questions. Why don't the scooter startup have kiosks? Also, why are there no electrical charging stations for the scooters?
they pay people to collect, perform maintenance, and charge them. Much cheaper to pay someone to charge them from their home than to buy property and do it there
@@fartingfury what they really need to do imo is have some kind of bike rack style system. let them charge there, lock them down to help prevent vandalism, and they could incentivize parking there by offering a discount to your ride if you do or something
That would be too expensive. They pay people in the areas, to gather, charge and redistribute the scooter. If they had kiosks, they would now have to pay rent as well.
Yep. Just bought my own scooter 2 months ago and so far, once of the best decisions I have made. I used to pay for gas around 3 USD from my house to my farm. Now, I only pay 0.2USD, and that's already back and forth. Also, my country has already started regulating E-Scooters and E-Bikes due to sudden spike of users.
@@InXLsisDeo Well they have far better mass transport infrastructure and they already use bikes a lot too. It seems they don't even need these things when current system they have works well for them. E-scooter share exist because the poor public infrastructure and overly reliance to privately owned cars. Seems cool and innovative, but kinda unnecessary of only mass transport were actually well invested.
I wish that the areas in which these scooters are suppose to be ridden were friendlier to alternative transport ion. Most cities feel super unsafe to ride around because there’s not enough bike lanes or space for riding.
One problem also lies in the sharing system. As mentioned in the video, people just dump these scooters everywhere, causing damage to the ride... and it's an eyesore. In my city ride sharing is done with a stations system. For example, you rent a bike at a station, which is typically nearby points of interests or public transport stations, drive around with it and when you're done, you drop it off at a bike renting station nearby. It might not be as convenient, but it certainly counteracts many downsides of current day ride sharing.
Marie Müller That’s why the scooters are collected. They all have a GPS system on them. It’s unlikely you’ll find a scooter on a off beaten sidewalk in a neighborhood and can use it. You’ll always find the scooters near others, grouped together and etc. overall for a cities culture, it’s very much a good deed. Just like how Trams are and etc. If you find scooters just laying around, it’s most likely the scooter was just dropped a minute ago.
It seems like there are a few simple solutions to begin with: 1. Someone intentionally breaks scooters, or uses them the wrong way? Make them pay. Those people who threw scooters in the lake? If they're made to pay for the vandalism, then the scooter renting company will not be losing money because of vandalism. I mean, it should be obvious - those people who cause damage should pay for damage. Of course this is easier said than done, but if riding/leaving rented scooters is only allowed in monitored areas, well lit at night etc., this should be doable. 2. Increase the price of using a scooter. This might mean fewer customers, but it'll also mean fewer scooters will be needed, and thus all the operational costs will be down as well. Say the price of using a scooter is doubled. Number of customers drops five times. Operational costs drop five times, but revenue ends up 2/5 of the old one. With the right numbers, this would become profitable. 3. Recycling & repair. When a scooter becomes too damaged it should be salvaged for parts. Making a new scooter out of parts of damaged scooters SHOULD be cheaper than making one from scratch with raw materials. Of course the other solution it to simply sell scooters. Once it is the user's property, they'll care for it more. One problem with scooter ownership is securing it from theft, so it would be nice if there were dedicated storage lockers or something where people could 'park' their scooters near shopping centers, universities, office buildings etc. because at this time, the only safe-ish option is to store scooters indoors. Chain locks, alarms, GPS trackers... can deter some thieves, but a well equipped, professional thief can still get any scooter kept outdoors in a matter of minutes or seconds. Of course if the scooter is cheap, thieves may not be interested, but for people willing to buy a $1000 electric scooter? The threat is real. Also, most security devices (chains, locks, GPS trackers) won't prevent a thief from stealing the battery, which is often the most expensive part of scooters.
got one today secondhand and i swear the previous owner knew it was gonna break, and after an hour or so using it the engine failed. And of course he is saying its my fault and the guy is 21stone which is 294lbs.
In Chicago you have to take a picture of the scooter properly parked and they collect the scooters at the end of each day. The companies get fined if there's scooters laying around improperly parked after two hours. I haven't seen any laying around or blocking walkways, but i only go into chicago a few times a week as i live 15 minutes away.
I think it's worth noting that, in my experience seeing and using scooters around LA, Bird scooter durability is VASTLY VASTLY VASTLY inferior to the Lime scooters. Perhaps the new Bird scooter is equal or even better, I have no idea, but the Lime scooters have been more robust from the start.
Yeap: Bird scooters are made off aluminum except for the header, which gets screwed up pretty fast. Lime scooters are made of mild steel and the header is pretty solid.
That's really interesting. We thought we got us some scooters and calculated they were 10$ per hour and since we wanted to rent them for a few hours it would have been cheaper to rent a bike or get an Uber (depending on the amount of fresh air and workout we wanted). So I thought they must make lots of money because they are not cheap, they outsource the charging to users and so on. Obviously that was wrong. Anyway I'm still not sold on the concept. I mean I'd like it if there was one of these fully charged anywhere I am and need one, but I don't want them to clutter the streets. Also I don't want to carry one around all the time in case I feel like riding it.I have no idea how this is this solved.
For a daily rider, they charge too much and they aren't reliable to be found in that sometimes you have to walk 10+ minutes just to get one and if you take one to say the store there is no promise that it will still be there when you get out. I bought my own and it's paid for itself is like 4-6 weeks vs daily rentals and it's always there when I get out of class or the store. My personal thoughts... I don't see the electric scooter rentals surviving in the long run.
You're right, it doesn't make much sense rn using them every day because it will be quite expensive. However, if they would sell subscriptions for $20-30 a month it would probably make more sense to daily users, the business models of these companies would also strengthen.
As of 2022 the lifespan is expected to be 2 years - and they can still sell the used units afterwards. I think the biggest problem is this type of ride share is just not adapted inside the city because of lack of user discipline
I dont understand how these companies are allowed to leave there property on public property. Am i allowed to park my car on a sidewalk or park? No right, so how can they get away with it?
This is a great idea. Just bought a boosted board mini x and the electric types of transport are becoming more and more popular. Better for the environment, faster, and fun. I do not know why people hate so much on the electric scooters. Throwing them in lakes and such is unbelievable.
I do not understand your calculation at 2:35 Generating 2.32 Dollars per ride or all 3.5 rides together?! If it is per ride then you will have a total revenue per Scooter of 234 (=28.8*3.5*2.32) Dollars! But you come to 67 Dollars only! That means you argue that all 3.5 rides TOGETHER make a revenue of 2.32 Dollars (28.8*3.5=67). But that is impossible as one ride would cost only 66ct (2.32/3.5=0.66) and - as you mentioned - alone starting a scooter-ride costs the customer 1 Dollar. So is your calculation wrong or have I made something wrong?
Brian McK absolutely! I just bought an xiaomi 365 for getting around my college campus. In short, it’s been a dream! Getting to classes only takes 5 minutes now so I can get a really good seat in the front of the class.
I tried out the scooters for a while when they came to my city. They seemed like the perfect solution because my commute was a bit too long to walk, but a bit too short to really justify driving. The problem was that there were never any scooters near my apartment, and I had to walk so far to find one that I was already past the halfway point and could just walk the rest of the way.
I've spent $10 3 times in different cities Wondering around a new city is numbing when walking . I must see the structure to compare with maps I see . One hour with a scooter gets me around every city I've been in . I now know what roads are main, one way . Where the restaurant section is. Where the hotels are located to compare with Google maps info. Instead of flying around I'll be driving in the future so I'll buy my own scooter .
Riding horses instead of cars for thousands if years Finding a hotel is meaningless. I'm looking how the city is laid out . Where museums and restaurants are . Walking you'll just go into any restaurant when your hungry . The scooter gives you mobility. After the ride I now have an idea of what that city is like . Then I walk to the places I want to see. Try it. Unless you have no curiosity and just want a hotel with a TV
@@tomrobertson3236 I'm so happy for you; rentable escooters solved your problems navigating cities, not feeling numb anymore. At least one schmuck benefits; not sure it balances but the rest of us have no idea what the city is like and will just watch hotel TVs and going into any restaurant which the almighty scooter would protect us from LOL.
I imagine the battery , esc and wheel hub to be the most expensive parts. Maby a scooter only lasts a month but then they pull the electronics and put it in a new shell, replace some wheel bearings and its good for another month.. the battery should easily last a few years .
How do you feel about having scooters in your city/town?
"Electric scooters may not be around for long…" THANK YOU GOD!
The Verge glad
Individual ownership of electric scooters seem like a good idea to reduce use of gas powered cars. But they are polluting cities streets and with their short lifespan, end up in landfills. Not environmentally friendly at all
Scooters are everywhere in Montevideo , I haven’t tried them yet prices are quite appealing around 50c to unlock and 10c per minute, but they are crowding the already narrow sidewalks and streets of the older parts of the city.
They are the worst, you should be able to scan a QR code on them when people leave them in the middle of the street and the person who left them should get fined or blocked from using them.
I know people could just move them but I'm sure there is a solution to that
So local residents protested having their environment ruined by the scooters by throwing them in a nearby lake. Where do I even begin?
This sums up our generation. A lot of hypocrisy. 😂🤦♂️
The thing is, the scooter was made in order to reduce car usage which in turn actually helps the environment which makes the protest more ironic
the destruction of the scooters have nothing to do with Environment it's more of not being able to communicate with the service providers about issues they are having like being over charged for a ride.
don't.
Seriously
People should be encouraged to park the scooter after usage at designated places, like with shopping carts. Like, you pay two dollar to use it, but you get one dollar back if you park it where you're supposed to, instead of just dumping it anywhere. If a scooter gets dumped anyway someone else can pick it up and take it to the designated spot to collect the dollar.
(Part of the) Problem solved.
Wonder if going one step further and having charging stations in strategic locations would be good. You can drop them anywhere, but you get a discount if they are recharged for the next rider. Would potentially have less downtime and longer battery life.
James Schreiber
Well yeah, those parking stations should ideally have charging capabilities of course.
ofo (bike sharing com) tried to do that in singapore. but i dont think it does much.
@@@kissuck in singapore you wouldn't have to people there know how to behave themselves
There should be thousands of those spots because let's say you are in a rush to go the office or elsewhere but you gotta take the scooter to the far away parking place to get your dollar back..
Dumping electric scooters in a Lake? Americans at it's finest.
People don’t like them being dumped all over the sidewalk
dandanthetaximan how about just banning them completely, win win
@@Agtsmirnoff banning Americans? Well, okay
Noxmiles huh?
@@Agtsmirnoff huuuuuuh??
Whats wrong with people that they vandalize scooters? Can’t wrap my head around it.
xDanoss318x well, because they can and also have low iq
Because they don't like the scooters and want to send a message to the companies to quit ruining their cities and the environment?
Laura Warner how exactly are electric, fumes-free scooters ruining the enviroment? You might as well argue that bicycles are polluting the enviroment. It’s extremely enviromentally friendly. Much more pollution is produced by DESTROYING them than by using them...
@@apollodiomedes203 Those scooters were a bad idea to begin with. They cause lots of pollution in production, they contain lots of non recyclable parts, they are collected in gas gulping SUVs when they run of charge and so on and so forth.
Not to mention how detrimental they are to the city environment. The companies put them wherever they please disregardind laws and street etiquette, so do the riders.
Since the local governments won't do anything about this issue people have to take matters into their own hands and show that these companies are not welcome in our communities.
HQU Wait. Do you mean the scooters or the people?!
I’m sure they’ll be much more successful in other countries where people don’t throw scooters into lakes.
bad news, they're throwing them into lakes here in France too
Apparently they're better taken care of in Russia....... I wonder why?
The company was/is a huge success: venture capital providing millions (1st rule of business, pay yourself first) and a company even went public. People became millionaires! In today's short sighted Trump-enomics it sounds like scooter CEOs are winning. As long as you incorporated, it's your money without any liability.
Pretty sure you're right. A Lot of people here in Germany don't like them, but nobody breaks them or pushes them over. I rarely even see them knocked over.
They are being really taken care of here in Sweden.
Electric scooter sharing might not last but owning one and using is to commute is pretty nice. I do it for over a year and i do not regret buying it.
Yes, and THAT is ecological, as a simple back of the envelope calculation shows that an escooter uses about 50 times less energy than a car on the same distance and thus emits at the very least 50 times less greenhouse gases, even if the electricity is coal generated.
Yeah why not just own one. That's that.
Zailon Xwadastet which nienebot and is it still working for you I’m thinking of getting one?
@@samuelahmed659
If I may. I have the Segway Max with 40 mile range. Bought it in October of 2019 going strong still. Powering up SF hills and conquering flats with authority in Sacramento. Love it.
@@rxonmymind8362 I'm thinking of buying a ninebot max for school commute. Is the ninebot good in light rain and possibly light dusting of snow if you know?
I can't believe there wasn't even a single mention of easily replaceable spare parts.
that sounds way too positive for the verge.
That was in there.
Even if you repair them, the cost of repair may be higher than buying a new one, simply because labor cost is much higher in the US than in China.
This is just a covert add for the inevitable increase in price. "Oh look at the poor scooter businesses".
The problem is that people are arseholes are break them deliberately
What would you expect though? For people to treat them as their own possessions? Never gonna happen.
we hate them and want them out of our town-and they kill and injure riders
@@user96RR Ah, the tragedy of the commons. If a property is given public ownership, then the public will destroy it.
@@angrytwinnow9990 You wanna ban cars while you're at it
The problem is the dickheads riding them on sidewalks and bike lanes.
Actual title: Electric scooters RIDESHARE may not be around for long.
Clickbaiting that profit..
thumb down 4 clickbaiting
Can't you just walk?
@@juannieto2559 Generally this is up to 5x the typical walk speed
@@chrisw3311 You still can ride a bike, it is the same speed and you can travel further with it.
there is no wan on earth bird are paying over $500 per scooter. You can buy the EXACT scooter from China for around $300, plus with their purchasing power, they must be paying less than $200 per scooter.
Yeah but actual extra electronics for GPS tracking and theft protection cost too i think
Probably not for the same scooter today, but this was too years ago. Costs have come down since then for these models.
I just bought the exact same scooter for 400. I agree a company like bird is probably paying 100 bucks a scooter and even with gps and some extras they are paying maybe 300 tops.
Bro they cost waay more than 300 in china more like 600$
Man, why do some people just have to take their hate out on something they don't like?
I don't wanna live around people anymore
Well, some people have motive. Example: These scooters can drastically reduce the demand for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft.
@@NightmareFuelsYou i dont think they actualy compete. No one is going to take a scooter for 2 miles. Though i have no idea whats the average scooter ride
because they're horrible, people leave them laying across sidewalks and in the way of ramps, blocking entrances and generally making disabled folks' lives even harder than normal
@@RockeroNato Nah fam, rideshare drives saw a drop in business almost overnight.
I drive Uber and Lyft myself. I've never vandalized a scooter but like many people, I was pretty irked by them for many reasons
@@NightmareFuelsYou That's not valid for Lyft. Lyft started having their own scooters, that people could use.
I bought both the xiaomi 365 and the segway ninebot ES2, both for around 300$. I'm sure big scooter companies can buy them at 200$ tops.
Lime and Bird usually purchase a modified version of model Segway Ninebot ES4 which costs roughly $700. These scooters go faster and have a longer usage span.
@@XPfirePlayz you mean the extra battery. Yes. But 700 is for the public. If I had to buy a spare it would make my total cost around 500. Not 700. And yes they have another mod with a chip, stickers,... But Im still guessing a max cost per scooter of 350-400
Where did you bought it at that price? I'm interested in one
they get the scooters for even cheaper
XPfirePlayz I can believe that with lime but bird scooters are little light and cheap in comparison
Like most tech startups. It's about the Pump n Dump. The founders get a bunch of venture capitalists to give them money. They put out a marginal business. Then they cash out before their share of the company goes down in inflated value.
Smartest comment here, too bad it's not at the top.
Ideally they wud want to IPO and they can sell out like snapchat~ That way it doesn't matter if they go bankrupt and they get free money from the Public investors.
@@ubacow7109 and worst case scenario is to end up like Twitter, massively popular, but unprofitable and noone wants to buy you.
I agree with the result but not the motivation.
The solution to a longer scooter life span is that the individuals must purchase their own scooter. They will take care of the product then. Scooter companies should move away from selling scooter rides to selling safe parking spaces fitted to recharge the scooter
Safe parking with charge wouldn't turn a profit.
Killerfisk pretty sure Tesla does that fam
I own a electric scooter
Best purchase ever
So fun
Hey Castro which one you bought?
@@nagual2335 the u scooter
Hell yeah 👍
didn't age well
Just buy your own M365 scooter they cost around 250/350 euro. Spend around 35 euro on upgrades like hintch rubber, rear fender support, magnetic reflextion sticker and waterproof battery cover. Now 2650km futher and its still rocks.
Werner Lindeboom I had many issues with my m365... rear fender broke itself off due to the upgraded airless tires. It also completely ripped the scooter side of the brake light harness off, and I had to rewire it. At about 500 miles I had to replace the motor controller, motor, and brakes. I also had those little 3d printed wedges due to the poor design of the folding and stem mechanism.
The airless tires were completely unforgiving on San Diego streets and there’s no suspension on them.
Additionally since the replacement of those two motor components I am unable to connect with the Segway app.
I sold it and got an Ecoreco m5 through their RAD program and got a scooter with under 20 charge cycles and under 200 miles on it for the same price as a new m365.
@@tysonb8328 I wonder how you used your m365 because you are quite unique in destroying it like that. Anyway glad that yuo found your scooter.
That's why I have my own personal scooter
What do you do with it when you go into a store? You can't leave it outside.
@@matthewdavies2057 It's one of the swag scooter and yes we do ride it around. And it charges up for a few hrs it's fun to have
I have e-bike ...since then i use cars almost only in winter..i and is much more fun then car ...and cost me 2 cents for every 50 km
@@dzonikg which one?
same. works great for 1880 kilometers already.
That 28 day figure has a really dubious source. When that article was written, all of the scooter companies were in the process of upgrading their fleet. I've seen many scooters which have been out in my neighborhood for at least a year (they're the gen 1 birds).
I also think it's the chargers who are putting more stress on these things than the riders. I see them getting thrown around pretty haphazardly in the back of trucks, cars, etc.
How do you know they have been here for a year and not been replaced ? Did you get their serial numbers ? Your post doesn't make sense.
@@InXLsisDeo because bird stopped deploying the original model of scooter, and upgraded through several generations. Yet I still kept seeing the (at least 1 year old) original xiaomi m365 scooters that they started with.
@@blhack123 I agree the figure of 28 days is very dubious.
Yeah those prices are WAY off from what the scooters actually cost. Consumers can buy spec for spec equivalent scooters for like $300 on Amazon. A company buying in bulk directly from the manufacturer? Gonna get way less expensive. I cant imagine one of those scooters costing more than $250, but more than likely it's way less. Also, the destroyed and vandalized scooters represent only a small margin of the scooters out there. In fact it is rare enough that scooter drops large enough to make any kind of real impact on the scooter count in a city is enough to make news. Also, from what I understand those number of vandalism's are dropping now that the scooters are less controversial and generally more understood and accepted than they were a year ago. They also have a ton more data on usage and are tailoring scooters to match where they can. Their biggest existential risk right now is regulation, not profitability.
Yes! A lot of the numbers he mentioned, are wrong
2:33 3.5 rides per day, only calculated as generating $2.32 in revenue when it's a dollar to unlock the scooter in the first place? something doesn't add up...
Duad Maintinance etc. they pay guys to charge them etc
@@erikbuiten14 then wouldn't it be profit, not revenue?
then 15 cents per minute. these things get used for a few minutes at a time... do your math.
Henk X and bird is actually more expensive ranging from 21-29 cents per minute
@@jasperdiscovers with a base price of $1 those $2.32 can't be total for all 3,5 daily rides, unless its about profit and not revenue. However, if its a revenue of $2.32 per ride, it would add up to about $234 during those 28.8 days, significantly more than the $60 as presented. So one can only assume that they've deducted maintenance and other costs from that, which essentially would mean that the $2.32 are revenue, while the $60 are profit. That there is no such declaration on the second number makes this quite confusing.
E-scooters is just a part of the transportation solution for congested cities. Scooters and bicycles need infrastructure as well. Just like roads are built for cars, we need travel corridors for bicycles and e-scooters.
The current idea of using walkways and footpaths is not sustainable for large scale movement
Good luck with that. We have been fighting for 30 years for bike lanes, We get sharrows. Also several scooter deaths from accidents with cars.
Bird needs to pay for slow speed lanes in cities as they promised.
Herein Hoboken NJ, We have a scooter share but they are not allowed on the sidewalks. They must use bike lanes. or roads if there are no lanes. Works fine actually as long as people are following the rules. The real problem are the idiots on the sidewalks and going the wrong way up one way streets. If your city already has bike lanes its perfect.
“If ridesharing keeps being unsustainable it will be unsustainable”
Captain obvious
Brigadier General Naturally
Here in Moscow people respect the scooters and use them appropriately.
Yeah, because they are locked up and to use them you need to upload a photo of your passport to the app
lmao as soon as I read "Here in Moscow" I knew it was gonna be something hilarious
You don't have melanin endowed people in Moscow.
trucid2 that’s very racist, it was mainly white people in this video doing the vandalism
Same in Kazan, Russia: people are very civil with them.
came from the future to tell u: they're still here.
Guys, this is just wrong. The title says "Electric scooters may not be around for long…". This video is talking about the rideshare companies and shareable electric scooters. What about personal electric scooters that you OWN. So that means that my electric scooter that I BOUGHT would just disappear and would not be there? Look, Segway-Ninebot wouldn't just disappear because their electric scooters wouldn't sell, they have more products like robotic delivery systems, robo-police, onewheels and other leisure products. So basically rideshare companies might disappear but the personal scooter market could and would stay. Moral of this story: the title should be fixed to "Electric scooter *rideshare companies* may not be around for long…".
yeah.. specially if you put it on a city full of self entitled people. 3:09 watch how a suppose to be civilize people behave LOL
it doesn't matter if you make it more rugged .. a single self entitle individual is enough to break one of those. . .
Yeah but that's a viral trend like eating tide pods. Eventually, douchebags stop caring and only a handful will find entertaining enough to do. It won't stop the problem but might make it more sustainable.
Schadenfreude can be contagious.
I have a better idea. Lets make it trendy to destroy stones in prison. It worked before.
while people will always vandalize, but the vandalization of scooters is abnormal because they are a novelty. eventually people will get bored of destroying scooters and the vandalism rate will drop to more normal levels.
@@sws212 I wish those vandals ate tide pods. Should make a viral ad campaign to destroy scooters while eating tide pods.
30 days? What did break? The batteries? The motor? What are the top 5 scooters these companies are using? There is just a bunch of unsourced/ungrounded information in this video.
The people that are destroying the scooters should get jail time. I dont care if you like the scooter or not, it's not your property.
Kinda like how scooter riders park these scooters everywhere, like not on their property.
the people that put out the scooters should get jail time for killing riders
@@quantumheliumAnd you think this is an excuse, right? If the others are morons, then you are allowed to be an even more primitive entity... Nice...
It's ewaste dumped on taxpayers and public streets.
@@angrytwinnow9990 The people who destroy scooters should get jail time for making people increase traffic leading to more traffic deaths.
I work for a scooter company. We drop 60 brand new scooter we are lucky if we get 50 back. They need a better gps and coding so people can’t bypass them and make them personal scooters. Even the new scooter are getting stolen and made into personal.
Well I bought one last year but mine is two wheel drive unlike these rentals... It has blown me away with its speed and fun factor... I use it to run my Huskey dog.. it works better than attached to a pedal bike and she took to it like a fish in water.. five years of pulling my arms off now she has to keep up to me... Priceless!!!
Damn a dollar for a scooter + 15 cents per min thats like taking a cab in my country.
true.. it is more expensive than renting a car it's like 100 usd for 10 hour usage
It’s NOT the Scooters that Won’t last...It’s The Companies !!
Yup that's right.
Still around. Ohio just passed laws making them easier to get and ride 😂. And ohio is run by republicans lol.
Just a classic dot-com esq bubble; hoping to ride the wave without caring if the model actually makes sense.
I think you got the math 100% wrong on scooters.
2:14
Price = 500 USD
5 months * 30 * 5 rides/day = 750 rides. Minimum fare is 1$ + 15cent
Average fare is ~4$
So that would be about 750 *4 = 3000 $ revenue
$3000 $ - 500 USD cost = 2500 NET PROFIT after 5 months. That's insanely profitable. That's why they grow so fast.
I live in Louisville! I'd personally say these scouters get destroyed by out bad sidewalks. I know it wasn't a core argument but important to note
I think if you own one personally you’re going to look after it like a child,if you’re only hiring something for a dollar a day you’re not really going to be fussed about banging it about
I'm more of an Electric Scooter purchaser.
I'm more of an electric toothbrush kinda guy
@@REXFORGT Sure...................why no?
Im more of a medium rare steak kind of guy
Technological advances will solve this problem. There hasn't been a piece of technology that doesn't become cheaper to produce AND higher quality at the same time each passing year.
You are not considering the largest source of revenue: the data on people movement
PLEASE offer examples of how people movement is a source of revenue
@@MinimotorsUnitedKingdom Most trafficked areas, typical routes people use, which shops they stop at. You can create a whole demographic based on movement and provide targeted ads that way.
Scootera DualtronUK google map data
@@nomansland120 : damn....are you in marketing?
@@dgayle2348 yes
I use a non-electric Xooter kick scooter and love it! It is very useful for getting around our downtown area where parking can be tough and good exercise. As far as vandalizing scooters...WHY? If you don't like electric scooters, don't use them. Pushing them over, using them for stunts, setting them on fire, throwing them in lakes, these people are morons. When everyone owns something, no one owns it and this applies to some people's mindset of these scooters and they treat them as such. We all share this environment so people should not be endangering it with their bad behavior regardless of what they think of electric scooters. Before we can take advantage of advanced technology, our society must first advance. Sad but true.
Bird pays way less than 360 per scooter. Closer to $50-$100. Remember these are made in China with some of the cheapest parts available. It costs about $25 to manufacture a xitomi mi scooter in shenxing.
I dont like to use the city ones i buy my own that goes faster and i can keep it in the shape as good as i can.
Rideshare scooters do not make sense for all the reasons you mentioned, BUT owned scooters totally have a place in our congested cities. It has been proven that people look after what they have had to put their hard earned money into versus some "rental" unit. This has always been true with cars, so.....enough said.
These electric scooters are a menace for people who are blind and have mapped out the city and their mind how did they know that the end of the sidewalk is blocked with a bunch of scooters? Secondly, their horrible for people who are in wheelchairs how is somebody that is wheelchair-bound supposed to move a bunch of scooters out of the way so they can get down the sidewalk unabated?
Morocco: goats in trees
_bird scooter has joined the chat_
*I think I'll be living in that tree now*
Scooters are getting better and better and cheaper and cheaper. Many retail units are very good and only costs $350. I wonder what they cost at wholesale. Each scooter may only have to reach 1.5 months to be profitable.
My scooter is falling apart in 4 months I have had to repair it with hand tools twice but it is still worth the commute time it saves me.
I'm in a xiaomi scooter fb group, people say they make even 3000km without any major problems. a brand new car's oil change in authorised service (well mostily incuded in the price of the new car) costs about the same as any basic e-scooter (300-400€) but it willepend on roads quality and how you'll threat it on it... scooters with suspension theoretically should have less problems...
Negative profitability didn't stop uber, lyft, and host of other tech companies to become multi-billion dollar companies. These companies have plan to be profitable in the future or they have exit plan. You can't always value tech companies (or any other companies for that matter) by it's current status of profitability.
An obvious solution would be to charge a liability deposit for each rider; then return said deposit minus the cost of use...
That way riders have the option to drop off & lock up @ designated areas per hour or take the scooter home for days at a different lower cost effective rate overall...
After inputting said policy there; would be less wear & tear from the elements & vandalism...
I have a Segway by ninebot and it just break today after 1 month of use ... I just passed on top of a speed bump on my way to work and the scooter stopped accelerating and left me without brake. I really thought that these scooters were a good choice to leave the car home. Guess i was wrong!
Figure out a way to fine the people that intentionally damage the scooters.
Just jail em for 10 years and hit em with attempted murder
the scooters could easily be made pofitable, just make it so the battery packs can be serviced, wheels replaced, and the bearings can be lubedd and eventually replaced, the frame could be banged up over time but who cares about that if it still functions, servicing the scooters could take as little as 10 minutes and it would be a lot cheaper than replacing the whole thing, in case of events such as throwing them into water they could either waterproof the battry pack by sealing it in plastic with only 2 contacts leading out so it can still be changed out or just replace them upon damage like that
took my first lime ride last week. made me want my own.
Intentionally destroying/dumping an eScooter is akin to certain nimrods destroying their electric guitar(s) on stage - plenty of schools for example could really use them. Pure stupidity and waste!
Love seeing this video now Jan 1 2022 and Electric scooters being the fastest growing method of travel. Guess Electric scooters will be around for awhile. Rental scooters, I dont think so but privately owned ones are def here to stay.
Also consider that people could eventually buy their own scooters, that might become a movement too. Why continue paying the $1+.15 per minute when you could pay $30+ (fun fact, the most basic razor scooter only costs $30, and their electric ones aren't even that much more) and have your own ride without having to pay (you don't have to pull out your phone) every-time you need transportation.
And you get exercise.
Hey Man You may wanna change your title To Business Escooters, You forget to think about the personal owners.... Coz i have mine for almost 7months. everyday usage from house to work but still no issues. (Ninebot Segway ES2)..,
EXACTLY,,im 63,,240 lbs,,i flyyyy on my zero10x like a bird,,,,EVERYDAY now for 3 months.Besttttt purchase i Everrrr made..i live in Chicago Illinois. 😎
I bought my own mijia 365 scooter as soon as it was released to get to work. 4 miles a day. Still working well, still loving it and using it. The problem may be owner more than the scooter itself in terms of life. Have your own scooter and drive carefully, it's not a toy it can kill someone, including yourself.
Can someone explain to me the math this guy does on the revenue generated per scooter? 28.8 days X 3.5 times a day X *$2.32 per ride = $234 NOT $67 . . What am I missing?
Cost of maintenance and how much it costs for each scooter to be produced
I have a kick scooter, I really hope it doesn’t break, I ride it everywhere, it’s like running without the impact on my feet
When visiting Austin my friends and I actually bumped into an executive of one of the major scooter companies while at a food cart one early morning. Naturally, as we were three MBAs who all have our own businesses, we started a conversation and naturally asked random questions to back into the unit economics of the business. The numbers were not too far off of Verge's research. The only factors were that the vandalism rates were less than 0.5% and we calculated a payout for the scooters after 2.5 months. Average ride was 13 minutes for about $3/ride. I forget the average rides per day he had mentioned, but I think it was above 6x/day. This was for a city with much better riding weather though. Obviously this is based off of the numbers told to us, so you gotta take that with a grain of salt. But the big thing was that they were focused on manufacturing their own scooters that were less costly to make and more reliable and durable. That was big swing factor to get the company to grow faster and more sustainably.
when the company is geting profit.. its not in the verge narative to call it bad company. so lets make this story horrible so this company dies sooner. :)
This is exactly the Verge's conclusion as well. Companies developing their own longer lasting scooters with money from investors who want to believe, but ultimately, that costs more money. The catch22. The money injection rapidly causes the company to grow, but. Is it sustainable?
So, basically, this extremely short lifespan makes the electric scooters the LEAST ecological form of transportation.
I have been riding a GT Tsunami freight scooter for 14 years.
Scooters are NOT "scooter sharing"
probably you're right. and... this is not a problem of scooters itself. it's just people vandalising everything that they didn't directly paid for.
also transportation itself (so excluding manufacturing of vehicles) isn't that big pollution problem as they said. the manufacturing of vehicles and all other things does most damage to the environment. Producing one car (it doesn't matter if it's electric or gasoline) pollutes environment as much as driving it for 8 years IIRC.
So if we want to less pollute - we should use our cars for at least 8 years. Sounds funny, yeah?
I don't know how much pollution it generates to produce an electric scooter.
Not sure. I have a steam-powered scooter made of ivory that I power by burning Brazillian rainforest wood and rhino horns.
@@varez1
Oy! Don't you go convincing those who can afford new cars to keep them for longer, where the hell will the rest of get them if you succeed?
this only means humans are the least ecological form of existence, the scooters are fine
There should be charge stands where they should be left after the ride and vandalists should be arrested because it is not their **** property
SAVAGE AF they have the right to be mad. theese companies have not a single signed document to operate in the city
@@erikbuiten14 thats a good point
@@erikbuiten14 who cares,why would you need to beg the government to aprove your business?
@@AndradeSamir Do you know there is actually blind people in the world, who can't see the bikes before they trip and fall on one, there is emergency vehicles who can get stuck on one ( happened in my city, an ambulance could not get to the sick Persson as it had drive over a bike and got stuck). That's why you need clearence, confirmation and approval. Kid
In Brisbane, Australia, we have Helmet Laws. So the Lime Scooters are required to have helmets which adds to the cost overhead.
In the morning you will see them have helmets hanging off them... by the end of the day they dont. They get left behind by users who don't want to wear them. They already went through all the "Lime" helmets they purchased for their "trail" and started buying cheap helmets in bulk and throwing Stickers on them... and now you rarely see the helmets we did 4 months ago, so currently most people using them are flouting the law.
Also the staffing, recovery and recharging seems impractical too.
Great video. But I have two questions. Why don't the scooter startup have kiosks? Also, why are there no electrical charging stations for the scooters?
they pay people to collect, perform maintenance, and charge them. Much cheaper to pay someone to charge them from their home than to buy property and do it there
Thanks asa1896 - I was mystified how they were getting charged...
@@fartingfury what they really need to do imo is have some kind of bike rack style system. let them charge there, lock them down to help prevent vandalism, and they could incentivize parking there by offering a discount to your ride if you do or something
@@asa_1896 they're doing that with the electric bikes
That would be too expensive. They pay people in the areas, to gather, charge and redistribute the scooter. If they had kiosks, they would now have to pay rent as well.
Not a very accurate prediction
Yep. Just bought my own scooter 2 months ago and so far, once of the best decisions I have made. I used to pay for gas around 3 USD from my house to my farm. Now, I only pay 0.2USD, and that's already back and forth. Also, my country has already started regulating E-Scooters and E-Bikes due to sudden spike of users.
Great idea in a perfect civilization
They should only be available in civilized countries like Singapore and Japan.
@@BlackStoneMoviesMinecraft Interestingly, there are none in Japan.
@@InXLsisDeo Well they have far better mass transport infrastructure and they already use bikes a lot too. It seems they don't even need these things when current system they have works well for them.
E-scooter share exist because the poor public infrastructure and overly reliance to privately owned cars. Seems cool and innovative, but kinda unnecessary of only mass transport were actually well invested.
I wish that the areas in which these scooters are suppose to be ridden were friendlier to alternative transport ion. Most cities feel super unsafe to ride around because there’s not enough bike lanes or space for riding.
In Lithuania, CityBee scooters cost 0.50$ to unlock, and 0.10$ every minute.
Airidas Airidas True but the overall cost of living in Lithuania is higher than in United States.
Vandelazation of scooters is so stupid. I love my scooter ain't nobody damaging mine. That's that.
"...dark side". For scooters? 😂😂lol
One problem also lies in the sharing system. As mentioned in the video, people just dump these scooters everywhere, causing damage to the ride... and it's an eyesore. In my city ride sharing is done with a stations system. For example, you rent a bike at a station, which is typically nearby points of interests or public transport stations, drive around with it and when you're done, you drop it off at a bike renting station nearby. It might not be as convenient, but it certainly counteracts many downsides of current day ride sharing.
Marie Müller That’s why the scooters are collected. They all have a GPS system on them. It’s unlikely you’ll find a scooter on a off beaten sidewalk in a neighborhood and can use it. You’ll always find the scooters near others, grouped together and etc. overall for a cities culture, it’s very much a good deed. Just like how Trams are and etc. If you find scooters just laying around, it’s most likely the scooter was just dropped a minute ago.
I rode my scooter for nearly 9 years and only had to replace the battery twice I rode it almost everyday for about 20 miles to work
Congrats, you saved tons (literally) of greenhouse gases.
@@InXLsisDeo probably not takes power to charge them that power usually comes from a coal plants so I probably didn't help at all
9 years ? what brand
@@HelamanGile well you did help considering a car uses a lot more energy. But yeah
which scooter ? does it have lead acid or li ion battery thanks
It seems like there are a few simple solutions to begin with:
1. Someone intentionally breaks scooters, or uses them the wrong way? Make them pay. Those people who threw scooters in the lake? If they're made to pay for the vandalism, then the scooter renting company will not be losing money because of vandalism. I mean, it should be obvious - those people who cause damage should pay for damage.
Of course this is easier said than done, but if riding/leaving rented scooters is only allowed in monitored areas, well lit at night etc., this should be doable.
2. Increase the price of using a scooter. This might mean fewer customers, but it'll also mean fewer scooters will be needed, and thus all the operational costs will be down as well.
Say the price of using a scooter is doubled. Number of customers drops five times. Operational costs drop five times, but revenue ends up 2/5 of the old one. With the right numbers, this would become profitable.
3. Recycling & repair. When a scooter becomes too damaged it should be salvaged for parts. Making a new scooter out of parts of damaged scooters SHOULD be cheaper than making one from scratch with raw materials.
Of course the other solution it to simply sell scooters. Once it is the user's property, they'll care for it more. One problem with scooter ownership is securing it from theft, so it would be nice if there were dedicated storage lockers or something where people could 'park' their scooters near shopping centers, universities, office buildings etc. because at this time, the only safe-ish option is to store scooters indoors. Chain locks, alarms, GPS trackers... can deter some thieves, but a well equipped, professional thief can still get any scooter kept outdoors in a matter of minutes or seconds. Of course if the scooter is cheap, thieves may not be interested, but for people willing to buy a $1000 electric scooter? The threat is real.
Also, most security devices (chains, locks, GPS trackers) won't prevent a thief from stealing the battery, which is often the most expensive part of scooters.
the verge...the place to go to for the truth and balanced reporting.
got one today secondhand and i swear the previous owner knew it was gonna break, and after an hour or so using it the engine failed. And of course he is saying
its my fault and the guy is 21stone which is 294lbs.
that's why they are now selling to own. guaranteed profit. zero sum game with rental model
In Chicago you have to take a picture of the scooter properly parked and they collect the scooters at the end of each day. The companies get fined if there's scooters laying around improperly parked after two hours. I haven't seen any laying around or blocking walkways, but i only go into chicago a few times a week as i live 15 minutes away.
I think it's worth noting that, in my experience seeing and using scooters around LA, Bird scooter durability is VASTLY VASTLY VASTLY inferior to the Lime scooters. Perhaps the new Bird scooter is equal or even better, I have no idea, but the Lime scooters have been more robust from the start.
Yeap: Bird scooters are made off aluminum except for the header, which gets screwed up pretty fast. Lime scooters are made of mild steel and the header is pretty solid.
That's really interesting. We thought we got us some scooters and calculated they were 10$ per hour and since we wanted to rent them for a few hours it would have been cheaper to rent a bike or get an Uber (depending on the amount of fresh air and workout we wanted). So I thought they must make lots of money because they are not cheap, they outsource the charging to users and so on. Obviously that was wrong.
Anyway I'm still not sold on the concept. I mean I'd like it if there was one of these fully charged anywhere I am and need one, but I don't want them to clutter the streets. Also I don't want to carry one around all the time in case I feel like riding it.I have no idea how this is this solved.
Uber S1: We believe that dockless e-bikes and e-scooters could replace passenger cars for many trips under three miles.
Smart from uber to do this, they are taking away the middlemen that ridesharing has
For a daily rider, they charge too much and they aren't reliable to be found in that sometimes you have to walk 10+ minutes just to get one and if you take one to say the store there is no promise that it will still be there when you get out.
I bought my own and it's paid for itself is like 4-6 weeks vs daily rentals and it's always there when I get out of class or the store.
My personal thoughts... I don't see the electric scooter rentals surviving in the long run.
You're right, it doesn't make much sense rn using them every day because it will be quite expensive. However, if they would sell subscriptions for $20-30 a month it would probably make more sense to daily users, the business models of these companies would also strengthen.
This video totally ignores the increased lifetime and cost that can be brought by maintenance.
As of 2022 the lifespan is expected to be 2 years - and they can still sell the used units afterwards. I think the biggest problem is this type of ride share is just not adapted inside the city because of lack of user discipline
People really should just ride bikes. Its better for everyone.
well yeah im skinny not everyone is fit
and broke (HS student)
Nice video…2022 here, all the scooters are still around Sherlock .
As an industry insider I can tell you that the numbers quoted in this video are way off
.
Samantha Mollica When you say something like that you also tell/correct misinformation. No one oistens to you rn
Lol as if bird purchased the scooters for $551 😂 would be more like $120-$150
You mean they don't even last the 28 days? I'd probably go job hunting.
Gee Sam that's funny. I have heard the same numbers from Bird themselves. Are you a pothead burnout that recharges scooters all night like the others?
I dont understand how these companies are allowed to leave there property on public property. Am i allowed to park my car on a sidewalk or park? No right, so how can they get away with it?
he didnt consider the costs these pay to have people charge and fix the scooters...this was a dud from the get go
Even though it's only $3 and nobody but crackheads want to work for that little.
Owning your own scooter is the way to go cause they're great for commuting.
Did this age badly?
very
This is a great idea. Just bought a boosted board mini x and the electric types of transport are becoming more and more popular. Better for the environment, faster, and fun. I do not know why people hate so much on the electric scooters. Throwing them in lakes and such is unbelievable.
When he says “...we really need to look at the big picture.” and looks at the camera like yeah I just did that
I do not understand your calculation at 2:35
Generating 2.32 Dollars per ride or all 3.5 rides together?! If it is per ride then you will have a total revenue per Scooter of 234 (=28.8*3.5*2.32) Dollars! But you come to 67 Dollars only! That means you argue that all 3.5 rides TOGETHER make a revenue of 2.32 Dollars (28.8*3.5=67). But that is impossible as one ride would cost only 66ct (2.32/3.5=0.66) and - as you mentioned - alone starting a scooter-ride costs the customer 1 Dollar. So is your calculation wrong or have I made something wrong?
There’s still a lot of money $$ to be made just selling them individually !!!
Brian McK absolutely! I just bought an xiaomi 365 for getting around my college campus. In short, it’s been a dream! Getting to classes only takes 5 minutes now so I can get a really good seat in the front of the class.
I tried out the scooters for a while when they came to my city. They seemed like the perfect solution because my commute was a bit too long to walk, but a bit too short to really justify driving. The problem was that there were never any scooters near my apartment, and I had to walk so far to find one that I was already past the halfway point and could just walk the rest of the way.
Did you buy one?
I've spent $10 3 times in different cities
Wondering around a new city is numbing when walking .
I must see the structure to compare with maps I see .
One hour with a scooter gets me around every city I've been in .
I now know what roads are main, one way .
Where the restaurant section is.
Where the hotels are located to compare with Google maps info.
Instead of flying around I'll be driving in the future so I'll buy my own scooter .
No, walking around in a city is normal and has been for 1000s of years. How many hotels do you need to see?
Riding horses instead of cars for thousands if years
Finding a hotel is meaningless.
I'm looking how the city is laid out .
Where museums and restaurants are .
Walking you'll just go into any restaurant when your hungry .
The scooter gives you mobility.
After the ride I now have an idea of what that city is like .
Then I walk to the places I want to see.
Try it.
Unless you have no curiosity and just want a hotel with a TV
@@tomrobertson3236 I'm so happy for you; rentable escooters solved your problems navigating cities, not feeling numb anymore. At least one schmuck benefits; not sure it balances but the rest of us have no idea what the city is like and will just watch hotel TVs and going into any restaurant which the almighty scooter would protect us from LOL.
I imagine the battery , esc and wheel hub to be the most expensive parts. Maby a scooter only lasts a month but then they pull the electronics and put it in a new shell, replace some wheel bearings and its good for another month.. the battery should easily last a few years .