(July 25) Ford-owned Spin, the dockless scooter company announced that it will deploy 15,000 scooters in eight US cities beginning this August. Spin also revealed its latest mode e-scooter with anti-theft technology and custom parts to deter vandalism.
Spin has grown since Ford acquired it
Since being bought by Ford last November, Spin has grown rapidly and with the new announcement will grow even faster. When acquired the San Franciso-based company operated rentable e-scooters in nine cities and five college campuses. Today it operates in 47 cities and campuses.
Scooters to be deployed in new cities
Starting this August, Spin will deploy thousands of the new scooter in these cities: Portland, Los Angeles, Denver, Washington DC, Kansas City, Memphis, and Minneapolis, and more later. The new scooter is made in China by Segway-Ninebot a joint Chinese-American company that is backed by Xiaomi a globally-recognized scooter manufacturer.
Features of the new scooter
The frame has been enlarged and strengthened with a wider and longer platform. The brake handling-system has been improved and is more intuitive to use and responsive. There are larger 10 inch tubeless tires providing better shock absorption when traveling over rough terrain. There is real wheel drive providing better acceleration and uphill performance. There are also custom-manufactured security screws to help prevent vandalism and tampering.
The battery life has been extended so that the scooter can travel over 37 miles on one full charge. While a much smaller company than its rivals such as Bird and Lime being supported by Ford will give it time to scale its business before making a profit.
Dockless scooter sharing faces problems
During the past year the business has had problems with vandalism, injured riders, and breakdowns. These problems have caused some companies to be unable to recover their investment costs. Bird reportedly lost $100 million in 3 months and seeks new funding to the tune of $2.5 million.
Scooter sharing systems
Wikipedia describes the system for sharing scooters: "A scooter-sharing system is a service in which scooters are made available to use for short-term rentals. The term describes the sharing of mostly electric motor scooters (also referred to as electric mopeds) as well as electric kick scooters. The sharing of scooters is similar to carsharing or bicycle-sharing systems; with some scooter-sharing companies offering more than one type of vehicle via their service. Scooters are generally "dockless", meaning that they do not have a fixed home location, and are dropped off and picked up from arbitrary locations in the service area. This makes them a convenient mobility option for first-/last-mile mobility in urban areas."
Previously published in the Digital Journal
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