On the heels of unveiling its pink-wheeled e-bikes for the San Francisco Bay Area, Lyft is doing the same for its electric scooters in Denver, Colo. Lyft says these scooters are designed to be more durable, feature a more powerful battery and a hand brake.
Upon first look, however, these scooters don’t look particularly sturdier or durable than Lyft’s first batch of scooters. But Lyft says these scooters don’t fold, they’re heavier, stabler and made with aviation-grade aluminum. The scooters were built in partnership with Segway Ninebot, which unveiled the Model Max back in January.
The Model Max was designed with the realization that wear and tear is a major issue for shared electric scooter services. It’s supposed to be stronger, have a better rider experience and more operational efficiency, with a battery that can last 37.5 miles on a single charge, compared to just 15 miles.
To help with bumpy roads, the Model Max features air-filled, 10-inch front and rear wheels, versus 8-inch ones. The scooters also feature a wider baseboard.
“With this new scooter model, Lyft is bringing rider experience to the next level,” Lyft Head of Bike, Scooter and Pedestrian Policy Caroline Samponaro said in a statement. “For the first time, Lyft scooters will also feature our iconic pink wheels, making it undeniably clear that scooters are central to Lyft’s vision for a future where cities are built around people, not private cars.”
As you may have noticed, there’s still quite a lot going on in the shared electric scooter space. Earlier this week, Bird confirmed its acquisition of Scoot, one of the two electric scooter operators approved to offer its services in San Francisco.
At the Uber Elevate Summit in Washington, D.C., Uber unveiled its latest go at electric scooters. Built in partnership with an undisclosed company, V2 of Uber’s JUMP electric scooters are designed to be sturdier and safer, thanks to a bigger frame and hand brakes.
While in D.C., I tried to use a handful of scooters from the likes of JUMP, Spin, Bird and Lyft. JUMP’s new scooter handled bumpy roads better than some of its competitors and Lyft’s V1 offered an enjoyable ride. But between dead batteries, pre-reserved scooters, scooters in need of repair, and faulty acceleration and abrupt deceleration on a scooter I finally rode, I left feeling less than enthused about shared electric scooters.
source: TechCrunch
