Thoughts? Any investment opportunities here?
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Wow, kind of surprised to see this.
I do see so many of them around in east London now. My concern is when I see people using them on roads. Cycle lanes, ok, but they seem a bit dangerous on actual roads.
Looks like two of the biggest companies - for rental anyway - Bird and Lime, are still private.
Unsure of the companies making these things to actually buy though.
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The heritage wardens at places like Trafalgar Square and the Tower of London who try to stop bikes and skateboards are going to be in for a shock.
No way are these only going to be used in cycle lanes or on the road. And nobody is going to police it anyway.
Given how many of these things have fixed batteries and how many are going to end up destroyed or in the river I don’t really think they’re very green.
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I want to get my own one. Pimp it up with some rugged off-road tyres/suspension and 1.21 gigawatts
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Companies like these have been in Lisbon for a while with poor results and complaints from residents and passers-by. Cuz users would often leave the scooter anywhere
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Old cobbled stones in Lisbon leave them in bits as well. You nearly need a gum shield to stop you biting your tongue ha
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The e-scooter sharing sector is fairly international. Most other developed economies already allow e-scooters on their roads. I doubt the UK’s late arrival to the party will have a huge impact on the main players in the sector, and nor do I expect any domestic players to enter the market given how saturated it already is and the scale that is necessary to be profitable.
I was in Berlin recently where electric rental scooters are literally everywhere. You cannot imagine how common a sight they are. The four companies there are TIER, Circ, Voi and Lime. There are also lots of electric bikes some of which are Lidl bikes (sic) and they even do an equivalent with mopeds. I was there with my son and we probably used them 20 times each over three days, all around town covering possibly 30 miles and supplementing that with the underground.
I don’t know if it’s helped solve traffic in Berlin but I can honestly say that the roads were fairly empty of cars and I assume that at least some taxi journeys were avoided by using the scooters.
I’ve heard some good podcasts on the subject of these scooters, the most shocking fact I heard (regarding Bird I think) is that the return on investment is two weeks which is why, when a town allows it, they turn up by the truckload.
I heard a great podcast recently with the new Transport secretary, typically one of the more dull jobs in government, and he was absolutely raving about the possibilities of these sorts of transport. His stated intention was to allow pilots, gather stats and roll out further or stop accordingly. There will inevitably be deaths of scooter riders but it’s only when they do some good statistical analysis that they’ll be able to say yes or no. It’s an exciting opportunity, it may be appropriate for some towns and not for other, and I was impressed at the common sense approach they looked to be taking.
I’ve seen some of the electric bike companies fail but it’s not clear to me that the economics aren’t better for scooters. As mentioned above, it’s not clear you can get exposure to them as an asset class though…
The party that supports the Portuguese Government just submitted a proposal for changing the legislation for NHR: 10% tax for those who arrive now. As far as I can understand it this is not a final decision. Yet.
Care for an article in Portuguese?
Berlin is a hotspot for all this new mobility. It’s a good place to see how it all works. The city only gave permission to the scooters in the summer, so it grew really fast.
As well as the brands you mention Berlin also has Bird and Jump. Bird just announced they’re buying Circ today. Then for e-mopeds Emmy is available. Coup, owned by Bosch, operated until a few weeks ago.
There’s also at least 4 different car-sharing services where you can leave the cars anywhere. Somehow the carsharing is frequently cheaper than the scooters. Maybe because they’re less likely to be trashed and can go for longer without a human needing to take care of them.
It’s still a very car-centric city though.
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Raul please contact me on DM I can’t access you’re profile. I’m going there tomorrow morning.
If that makes it 10% tax on PT income rather than 20% that is good and ever better, I’m sorry I will translate tomorrow. I’m collecting my broke MacBook Screen tomorrow so is better for me to read
Going away tomorrow I shall be sure to read this. As far as I’m away there’s gonna be a cut off date and I’ll make way before any bureaucracy can close it. Meeting a lawyer on Thursday I’ll find out then 
Oh yeah, missed this…
…though was fully expecting the consolidation to begin soon.
Jump is Uber no? Uber scooters were all over Washington DC when I was there recently.
It’s mostly Xiaomi, isn’t it?
It is indeed. Their scooters are 
.
The new-gen JUMP scooters have the best suspension of any I’ve ridden.
And available from inside your Uber app.
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