The “BULLs” Prove Scooters Product-Market Fit. Sustainability benefits to follow …
Bird, Uber, Lime and Lyft (the BULLs) have proven the product-market fit of electric scooters. As their business models evolve, will the sustainability benefits be proven?
By Stephen Coulter & Krystyna Weston
It’s good to see research into the sustainability benefits of all forms of mobility BUT too soon to make judgements on the newest form — electric scooters.
While Bird and Lime are two of the fastest unicorns ever, their success has been achieved with a “minimum viable product”. Success has been built using first-generation consumer-grade scooters with inefficient charging protocols.
The leaders in the share-scooter game have effectively proven “product-market fit”.
First-generation consumer-grade scooters were costly for operators and much has and is being done to improve the sustainability of their product and processes.
To do a deep analysis of their current operating and business models, and pronounce them as not environmentally friendly is premature.
We have been dealing with many of the leading electric scooter-share companies and without exception, they are both environmentally and business-model focussed. The issues outlined in the recent article in “The Conversation” and previously by Chester Energy are being addressed.
- Operators are commissioning new generation scooters, custom-designed and built to last many times longer than a consumer product, ensuring the environmental cost of manufacturing is amortised over a much longer period.
- Better parts and materials are being used to improve performance, durability and sustainability.
- Charging models are being reviewed to reduce reliance on inefficient petrol/gas-powered vehicles.
- Some operators are using electric vehicles or scooters to recharge scooters
- Others have moved to swappable battery scooters with no requirement to remove scooters from their location.
Over time, with a focus on continuous improvement, cost management and operational efficiency, this will continue to improve. This is before any carbon offsets/credits are applied to further improve environmental impacts.
The current analysis is based on early usage data. We don't yet know the long term takeup rates of electric scooters and how successful they will be in moving first/last mile journeys to more sustainable forms of transport on a regular and recurring basis.
We do know electric scooter are one of the fastest-growing forms of transport ever and have the potential to displace many car journeys. To question their sustainability now may not be the time to grab the BULL by the horns!
Stephen Coulter and Krystyna Weston are Co-Founders of Zipidi, based in Sydney.
Background Information
The analysis and published spreadsheet of Chester Energy and Policy provides good data, sources and tools for analysing current impacts and how to reduce the carbon footprint of scooters going forward.
Here’s the public spreadsheet of Chester Energy and policy you can use to assess the impact of different models.
Here is Chester’s explanation of their analysis and model
The Conversation article analysis which prompted this article — good analysis but is it premature?
