In a few weeks, they returned en masse to the streets of Paris.
Self-service electric scooters, often criticized since their appearance in June 2018, are now an integral part of the urban landscape.
The City of Paris has decided to regulate this market by giving last year to only three operators the right to operate a fleet of 5,000 scooters each.
These can no longer be left elsewhere than on the 2,500 spaces authorized for this purpose, located at the corner of the streets.
The selected operators (Lime, Dott and Tier) therefore share since October 2020 the Parisian market, one of the largest in the world.
After two rather anarchic first years, the companies which deploy these small two-wheeled vehicles have therefore bought back a line.
But despite the disappearance of several competitors - including Bird - the effects of the health crisis are hitting these mobility companies hard.
According to data collected by the company Fluctuo, and while the number of devices deployed has changed little compared to the pre-Covid-19 period (around 15,000 scooters), the number of trips has dropped by half in a year.
At the end of the transport strike in February 2020, around 650,000 monthly trips were made on a self-service scooter in the capital.
A figure fell to 300,000 a year later.
Scooters are coming in big crown
And for good reason, before the pandemic, tourists alone accounted for 40% of shopping.
Parisians used these services more and more often for their commute to work.
But in the age of teleworking, lockdowns and curfews, the sector is forced to reinvent itself.
"The period 6 pm to 9 pm represented 30% of trips," underlines Mathieu Faure, director of communications at Dott.
Despite everything, we have maintained 100% of our fleet since October, to ensure good availability.
By controlling our costs, we are able to remain profitable in Paris.
"
Consequence: to amortize its investments, the sector practices rather steep prices.
Outside the package, the half hour generally costs 7 euros (1 euro unlocking + 20 cents per minute).
To remain attractive, micro-mobility operators must innovate and seek out new markets.
Bird, not selected by the City of Paris, has thus deployed its scooters outside the capital, in Brétigny-sur-Orge, Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) and Roissy-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne).
Tier Mobility, for its part, won a call for projects in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, where it will put 1,000 scooters in the streets from May.
And in the Parisian window, the battle is raging to offer an ever more varied range of vehicles.
Focus on electric bikes
The French operator Pony, based in Angers (Maine-et-Loire), landed in the capital in February.
Its fleet includes 500 electric-assisted bicycles, designed by Zoov, a Ile-de-France company already present on the Saclay plateau in Essonne.
Pony's originality: the bikes are concentrated along the cycle routes that follow metro lines 1 and 13.
The user must take them and bring them back to defined areas, which still cover the entire heart of the capital.
Pony also stands out with a very attractive price of 1.90 euros per half hour, clearly below its competitors.
By July, Pony will be offering a two-seater electric bike model.
A first in Paris.
Pony's two-seater electric bike will be self-service in Paris this summer. / Pony
On the Lime side, the 5,000 red bicycles are to be gradually replaced by a new model by the summer, in which the company has invested $ 50 million.
This will use the same removable batteries as the scooters.
“When our technical teams move into town, they will take care of both the bikes and the scooter fleet, which will allow us to operate optimally and continue to practice affordable prices,” explained Joe Kraus, Lime's boss.
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The Franco-Dutch operator Dot has been working for more than two years on an electrically assisted bicycle adapted to the constraints of “free-floating”.
To limit maintenance, the Dott teams have designed a puncture-proof biclou (with foam tires), equipped with a transmission protected inside the frame.
Dott was expected to roll out around 500 self-service e-bikes this month, and possibly 2,000 later.
But the Covid-19 crisis has caused delays in the manufacture of frames in Portugal.
The bike should be available this summer.
The scooter operator plans to deploy up to 2,000 self-service bicycles in Paris during 2021. / Dott
Competition among scooters
Unprecedented in Europe, the French Cityscoot, which launched its free-floating electric scooters in Paris in 2016, has been in a monopoly situation since the departure of COUP in 2019. Cityscoot continues to operate 4,500 electric scooters in Paris and in small crown.
Not for long, though.
Lime is preparing to enter this segment of the market.
The bicycle and scooter operator has announced that it will deploy a fleet of electric two-wheelers “in the spring”.
The scooters, bridled at 45 km / h, will be manufactured by the Chinese Niu.
The number of machines in service and the launch date are still unknown.
Long-term rental (LLD) is growing
Rather than paying by the minute for a bike, scooter or scooter, why not rent one for a month, a year or more?
Long-term rental formulas (LLD) have been increasing in recent months in Greater Paris.
Swapfiets
offers bicycles, mechanical or electric, and scooters "on subscription", including maintenance and insurance against theft.
In the event of a puncture or any mechanical problem, a mobile Swapfiets team intervenes within 48 hours.
The subscriber can even have a replacement bicycle.
Prices: 74.90 euros per month for an electric bike, and 44.90 euros for a scooter.
Zeway
is innovating in the field of electric scooters.
In addition to offering a rental model (limited to 45 km / h), Zeway allows its customers to change batteries in a few seconds thanks to a network of 40 distributors, open 24 hours a day in Paris.
The customer places his empty battery in a smart cabinet, and replaces it with a full battery in seconds.
Advantage: no need to wait five hours to recharge your battery, and you can travel more than 50 km per day without worrying about your level of autonomy.
Price: from 130 euros per month, with rental and insurance included (with a 36-month commitment).
