Electric Scooter Rentals - Everything you need to know

• Read Time: 13 min

You must have seen them by now, if you live in or have visited a bigger metropolitan city in the last three years. Be it in the US, Europe, South America or Asia. Electric Scooter Rentals are a part of the scenery of the "hoipolloi" that we have gotten so used to by now as part of the western way of life in modern city centers.

A maelstrom of tourists and local commuters who all seem to be out at the same time, fighting to get to their end destinations. Walkways and bikelanes are now also visited frequently by scooter riders who with a tap on their smartphone, have easy access to a vehicle that can swiftly get them to their next stop for a beer, coffee or a business meeting.

Let's begin with Lime since they are global and is, (or maybe one should say was...) one of the biggest if not the biggest.

As of September 2019, Lime operated in more than 120 cities across more than 30 countries. However, in January 2020, Lime announced that it was pulling away from 11 locations, including several US metropolitan areas such as Atlanta. Finding out where Lime operates today is not just a question of a quick Google check, but rather to download their app and see if they are in your area.

If they are, then it's a very simple process to use one. The rental program is similar to most other scooter rental companies. You register your card details via their app, search for an e-scooter closest to you, and once you find your scooter, you unlock it with a QR code at a fee of 1 USD or 1 Euro, and then you pay per minute. Initially, it cost 0.15 cents per minute, but the minute price has gone up to as much as 0.25 cents. It might not seem much looking at the number, but it is an increase of 66% and it can quickly add up.

Again, it is the app that will let you know what you have to pay per minute depending on your location. The app will also tell you where you can ride and where you can't. After usage, you need to take a picture of it to make sure it is parked in a Lime designated area. If you drop it off outside in the "red zone" there will be a fee.

Lime also operates e-bikes in a bike share program. It works basically the same way. Find your nearest bike via the app, unlock it with the QR code, unlocking fee the same, 1 USD or 1 Euro and off you go at 0.15 USD/minute. The e-bike, however, is a much more cumbersome vehicle and, as far as e-bikes goes, Limes choice is not a very good one. It only has one gear, and if you need to climb some hills it will be a challenge as you need to pedal all the time since it has no throttle. I suppose the reason one would opt for the e-bike instead of the e-scooter is a feeling of knowing how to bike, feels safer than operating an electric scooter. The e-bike takes up more space though and is not as agile or swift as its electric scooter counterpart. Top speed for the bike as well as the e-scooter is 16 mph (25 kph). The range varies though as the bike can reach approximately 60 miles (100 km) whereas the smaller capacity battery of the e-scooter has a range of about 12-25 miles (20-40 km) depending on how you use it obviously.

Bird is the biggest competitor of Lime and started about the same time. They operate globally in 100 cities at the time of this writing. The same method basically as with Lime. Download the Bird app, which is only for iOS system so far, register your profile and details and you are ready to go look for your nearest bird scooter. Once you find it, scan the QR code to unlock. Same lockup fee...yes you guessed it...1USD/EURO and 0.15 USD per minute as you go.

They also have "red zones" where if you park it and leave it you will be charged a fine, and that is why you need to take a picture of it before you can close up your ride and charging fee. They also offer a monthly deal in their rental program starting at 24.99 USD. However prices for sharing and monthly rentals differ according to country, currency and local laws and again... the app at your specific location is the only way to know the cost as it is not listed online on their website or at least....when I tried to find it...I couldn't. At least not as quickly as we have gotten used to online regarding most things today. This is probably due to prices and laws changing quite frequently and to spend a lot of time updating that info on one's website, might not be of much value. After all, the app is where everything happens.

Spin is another US company that started with dockless bike share and has since expanded into rental electric scooters as well, covering 66 cities and 12 campuses in the US. They say they will expand to Europe in the spring of 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported that Spin was valued at $80 to 90 million at the time of Ford purchasing the company in November 2018. So maybe we will see a name change and then you can say you took your Ford for a spin.... muahaha. Same procedure as with the other ones.

Going through each and every scooter rental companies in detail is rather futile. They pretty much operate the same way as far as the technology goes but who will survive and thrive remains to be seen. Lime, as reported, has run into some financial difficulties and when prices start creeping up, the business model and end consumer might change in ways not yet clear.

One of the most commonly asked questions how much does it cost to rent an electric scooter? When first looking at the costs it may just seem its pretty much the same across the board and that's because most companies started in a similar fashion, 1 USD to unlock and 0.15 USD per minute. Whilst some scooter rental companies decided to skip the unlock fee and go straight to a higher minute price. Now if you're like me and use rental scooters on rare occasions, which does happen even though I have a scooter or two *cough (3-4) of my own - it does happen, traveling and unable to bring a scooter, or spontaneously needing to move through town rentals are great! And to be honest, personally, the price differences make no impact on which scooter I go for.

However, the bigger focus should be on the avid user, the commuter, to and from work, school or just someone using it for everyday transport across town. I've been in several conversations and heard people admit they use a rental scooter almost every day and they all think it's "cheap" and get surprised when they check their credit card and bank statements at the end of the month. To make it very clear, below is a table showing the latest prices I could find and please know this can vary on the country, state and even city level but it is a good indication of what the actual costs are, even if you just use it once or ride around on rental scooters on a regular basis.

The idea to travel "green" through the city streets is a great one but, not without its challenges and issues. Some cities don't like the clutter of these new micro-mobility machines, and not always how scooter riders use them as well, flying down the walkways at breakneck speed. This affects the market as laws and rules are being adapted to this new reality.

Will your favorite scooter rental be around next month or week even? Who knows. If prices keep creeping up, eventually the charm of the idea might be lost in the customer's opinion, and they will opt to take an Uber instead. Especially if prices are compatible.

And one of the cons of this choice is exactly that. Availability. When you need one, can you be sure to find an available scooter? And is it charged sufficiently enough for your trip? You also need to keep in mind that your phone must be charged enough for you to be able to close up your journey or....the meter will be ticking away until you find a charger. The big pro with rental scooters of course, is that you can use one for that one time only when you might need it. And you don't need to worry about it once you leave it and the process to do so is simple. If it breaks down (unless you're reckless with it and held responsible) service and maintenance are taken care of.

But...and this is a big but...the scooters that are predominantly used in this business model are not top of the line. You would be surprised how big a difference the riding experience can be on electric scooters today. I remember when I tried the Mantis for the first time, My eyes opened wide and my hair was on fire as I gunned it, looked down and saw 41 mph (67 kph) on the tacho...and the ride was so smooth. It felt like the BMW of electric scooters. So no....you cant compare. The rental scooters are meant to transport people as cheap and simple as possible. Not to give an experience of what riding a modern electric scooter can be.

Safety is also of utmost importance on these machines. In some places helmet laws require the use of one, whereas in others wearing one is completely at your own discretion. Given that most electric scooters can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h), falling off or crashing into another vehicle or obstacle without a helmet can result in serious injury or worse.

So be smart, wear a helmet. There have been some issues as well reported with brakes locking while the e-scooter was still in motion. In Limes case, it resulted in the withdrawal of their fleet in some locations around the globe.