E-Scooters Zoom Ahead as the Future of Commuting
Will the motorised two-wheeler revolutionise the daily commute, or is it a passing fad?
By Tim Bradshaw and Emma Jacobs
Sunny Madra first discovered electric scooters after watching hundreds zoom past during dinner at a beachside restaurant.
His curiosity piqued, the Silicon Valley executive became a convert to the two-wheelers after realising that he could save time on his daily drive from Palo Alto to San Francisco.
Now, instead of driving across the city, he parks after he leaves the carriageway and scoots the “last mile” to the office instead. “That fundamentally changed my commute time,” he says. “As an entrepreneur, you can detect a trend.”
Mr Madra liked the idea so much, he bought an e-scooter company. As head of Ford X, the US carmaker’s mobility incubator, he led the multimillion-dollar acquisition of scooter rentals start-up Spin last month.
Ford’s bet — alongside the growing number of tech companies, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that have together invested more than $1bn in e-scooters so far this year — is that these small vehicles will become a daily habit for commuters.
