Scooter riders in Tel Aviv.
NIS 15 credit for the exchange/Omari Rosengart
At the end of 2022, Lime, the large cooperative micromobility company, chose to hold a new technological pilot in Tel Aviv: replacement and charging of scooter batteries by the riders in exchange for a financial credit for the next ride.
Now the results are revealed for the first time: how many riders agreed to the deal.
And it turns out quite a lot: the riders in Tel Aviv replaced 165,000 batteries during the year 2023, reaching a total savings of 2.48 million shekels for rides in the service.
The battery charging stations are located in small businesses throughout the city.
A rider who took a tool with a battery charged at 25% or less, can arrive at one of the stations on his way, remove the drained battery from the tool and replace it with a charged battery from the facility in the business.
In return he will receive NIS 15 for the next ride.
From Lime's data it appears that the highest among the riders made 1,200 changes, and received credits worth NIS 18,000.
The next one made 1,110 changes and in third place is a rider with 758 changes.
The battery charging station that is placed in the small businesses/lime
The small businesses receive a monthly payment of several hundred shekels per month.
During 2023, the company increased the number of exchange stations in small businesses from 35 to 75 and paid over NIS 370,000 to small business owners throughout Tel Aviv.
The main goal of Lime's venture was to reduce the load caused by the vehicles that the company uses to service its fleet of scooters.
The company estimates that so far the project has reduced the trips of its operational vehicles by about 100,000 km, which has reduced traffic congestion and pollutant emissions.
In addition to saving the costs of riding in the city, it seems that the replacement of the batteries by the riders has provided greater reliability in the entire network for other riders as well , who received tools with a higher charging level.
Lime now plans to expand the project and allow more riders in Gush Dan cities such as Petah Tikva and Holon to participate in the battery replacement project and earn free time and rides. Lime operates in 250 cities in the world and in Israel, including Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Ashdod and Eilat.
Yonatan Zanzuri, owner of Classic Clean laundries, with five branches in Tel Aviv: "For me, the stations give me publicity because the stations usually bring a young audience and this is the same audience that uses the service that my business provides."
More on the same topic:
Lyme
Electrical scooters