The Dutch have spoken: e-bikes outsell regular bikes in Netherlands

Paris plans gridlock-free Olympics, Bird’s franchise model evolves, and Vespa has a shot in the US.

October 06, 2020

Hello and welcome to the Micromobility Newsletter, a weekly missive about mobility, mostly mobility in cities by small electric vehicles like bikes and scooters. The reason you’re reading this email is that you signed up on our website or came to one of our webinars or events.

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Pod people

On the latest episode of the podcast, Superpedestrian/Link public affairs director Paul Steely White talks to Oliver Bruce about his journey from cycling to scooters, Bird and Lime’s rise and missteps, and what he sees as Link’s second-mover advantage.

Top highlight: Paul says Link’s next-gen rental scooters are profitable with just one ride per day.

What you need to know this week

  • The BBC reports: “The e-bike is now the most commonly sold type of bicycle in the Netherlands. And cargo bike sales are surging too—up 53% since the start of the pandemic.”

  • According to a lengthy report by OneZero, Bird has updated its franchise model. The company is now providing financing to its chargers to operate their own scooter and splitting the profits with them. While some “fleet managers” appear to be thriving under the new system, making as much as $5,000 a week, others say they have taken on up to $40,000 in debt. And the contracts OneZero reviewed seem pretty one-sided in Bird’s favor: “[T]he fleet managers don’t actually own the scooters. The title to the scooters will remain with Bird, even after the fleet managers pay off the scooter debt. Bird calls the scooter payments “equipment fees,” and the fees don’t go away if a scooter is lost or broken.”

  • Singapore-based scooter startup Neuron added $12 million to its Series A, led by Square Peg. The company plans to expand its presence in New Zealand and Australia.

  • In the coronavirus era and its aftermath, urban residents will be making more short trips and fewer rush-hour commutes to the city center.

  • The city of Geneva is providing subsidies for residents to purchase cargo bikes. While other governments in Europe have offered financial assistance for people to buy bikes and scooters in the past, this might be a first for cargo bikes specifically.

  • Vespa never caught on in the US due to the country’s suburban sprawl and harsh product liability laws. Will the pandemic, and accompanying demand for personal mobility, change all that?

  • The US National Parks Service revised its rules to allow e-bikes up to 750W in National Parks.

  • German police are ticketing Vanmoof users for changing their pedal-assist settings in the app to exceed the slow and boring EU speed limit for pedelecs.

  • Segway is taking orders for its affordable C80 model electric moped in the US and Canada. While the vehicle has a floorboard, the manufacturer is calling it a “moped-style e-bike” because it has functional pedals that qualify it as a Class 2 electric bicycle in the US.

  • Bowing to safety concerns from local politicians, Voi will no longer provide scooters in Copenhagen on weekend nights. This comes one week after the Swedish operator said it would fund extra police checks in the UK to discourage “anti-social behavior” among riders.

  • Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is escalating her war on cars in the run up to the 2024 Olympics, telling would-be visitors, “Forget about crossing Paris by car.”

  • NABSA is working with multiple micromobility companies, including Bird, Gotcha, Ride Report, Populus, Movatic, and Shift Transit, to provide US voters with free or discounted rides to go the polls next month.

  • This is what it looks like when cars lose market share in real time.

Coming attractions

On Oct. 20-21, Curbivore is hosting a first-of-its-kind digital event covering all the big, tech-driven changes that are impacting our cities’ curbs, sidewalks, and streets amid the pandemic. Things like delivery and takeout, TNCs and micromobility, outdoor dining and parking startups, ghost kitchens and micro-fulfillment.

If you like the way our newsletter covers small vehicles as a solution for moving people in a rapidly urbanizing world, then you should check out the mix of panels and workshops focusing on the equally remarkable potential for e-cargo bikes and sidewalk robots to reshape how we move goods over short distances.

Jobs to be done

Welcome to our jobs board, where every week we post new career openings in hopes of connecting our readers with professional opportunities in the burgeoning world of new mobility. Find out who’s hiring below and sign up for the newsletter to view fresh listings every week.