Electric scooter-sharing startup Bird is expanding its services with the launch of new custom electric scooters in coming weeks.
In partnership with Okai, Bird designed and manufactured Bird Zero scooters, which have 60 percent more battery life — as well as better ride stability and durability — than the company’s original model. There’s also an integrated digital screen to display your speed.
“We call it Bird Zero because it’s the first vehicle we’ve designed and engineered ourselves specifically for the shared electric scooter space,” Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden told reporters.
And a second soon-to-launch service, Bird Delivery, will allow riders to request a Bird be delivered to their home or office by 8am so they can use it throughout the day.
“The city is a top customer but we’ve also been listening to the riders and figuring out what riders really want,” said VanderZanden. “Riders really want a Bird delivered to them in the morning at their house. We think that’s a super magical experience. We’ll be rolling that out very soon. Not a lot of our riders live close to downtown areas, so there’s an equity component there that we think is very exciting.”
Just last month, Bird and its rival Lime announced that they have provided 20 million rides combined since their launches. Lime said customers have taken 11.5 million bike and electric scooter rides in the 14 months it has been in service, while Bird, which is focused on e-scooters, provided more than 10 million rides in its first 12 months of operations. The companies said their services are now available in 100 markets with expansion focused on European cities, including Paris and Brussels.
The two startups are about to see increased competition with Uber and Lyft, both of which are gearing up to launch scooter rental services. They’re also facing more competition from startups. Earlier this month, Taxify, the Estonian-based ride-hailing company, announced it is launching a new brand of e-scooters, dubbed Bolt.
Source: PYMNTS
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