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Lime Is Bringing Its New, More Eco-Friendly Scooters to LA
Maylin Tu
Maylin Tu is a freelance writer who lives in L.A. She writes about scooters, bikes and micro-mobility. Find her hovering by the cheese at your next local tech mixer.
The first Lime electric scooters hit the streets of Los Angeles in June 2018, some nine months after rival e-scooter startup Bird first took flight in Santa Monica. In the years since, Lime has battled Bird and a wave of other micromobility operators for market dominanceβseeking to transform the urban transportation landscape while facing losses, regulatory backlash and even destructive anti-scooter sentiment.
Now, Lime is upping the ante in the great e-scooter wars once again by bringing its latest e-scooter modelβthe Lime Gen4βto the streets of Los Angeles, with the goal of replacing all 7,000-plus vehicles in its L.A. fleet by this summer. Lime has already rolled out the Gen4 globally in markets from Denver to London.
The San Francisco-based company told dot.LA that it designed the Gen4 to be more eco- and user-friendlyβwith a swappable battery, bigger wheels, a lower center of gravity and swept-back handlebars akin to a bicycle.
βAs of [the week of April 17], you'll start to see them in Hollywood, West Hollywood and in some of the Hills area,β said Alyssa Edelen, Limeβs general manager for the southwest region.
Lime's new Gen4 e-scooter features a swappable battery, bigger wheels, a lower center of gravity and swept-back handlebars.Image courtesy of Lime
The Next Generation
Originally a bike-sharing company, Lime launched its e-scooter fleet in 2017 with the Segway Ninebot, a popular choice for operators at the time. However, early e-scooters were not built for the harsh conditions of shared use. One 2018 study by Quartz of Bird scooters in Louisville, Ky., found that the vehicles lasted less than 29 days on average before breaking down or falling prey to vandalism or theft.
The next Lime generation to hit L.A. streets in 2018 was the Gen2.5, a hardier model built to last 18-to-24 months. Then last year, the company swapped out the Gen2.5 for Okai scooters inherited through its 2020 acquisition of Uberβs micromobility business, Jump. Instead of recycling the Jump scooters, Lime wanted to deploy them in select markets.
Now, Lime says that its latest modelβdesigned and manufactured completely in-houseβis built to last for up to five years. In comparison, competitor Birdβs latest model, the Bird Three, has an estimated shelf life of two years.
Lime didnβt share details on how much the company invested in R&D for the Gen4. The scooter was initially developed by Jump, with Lime continuing the work after acquiring the former Uber subsidiary.
How Eco-Friendly Are E-Scooters?
The lifespan of an e-scooter doesnβt only affect a companyβs bottom lineβit also has a significant impact on sustainability.
In a 2019 study conducted at North Carolina State University, researchers calculated the life-cycle emissions of shared e-scooters. The study found that although riding one was better for the environment than driving a car, it was not as green as riding an electric bike or even taking a gasoline-powered bus.
And thatβs not just because of the energy required to charge e-scooters, which represented only 5% of their total emissions. According to the study, most of the greenhouse gas emissions from shared micromobility comes from manufacturing a deviceβs parts, as well as the logistics of collecting and charging the vehicles. In other words: the longer a scooterβs lifespan and the easier it is to charge it, the lower its carbon footprint will be
To address the environmental impact of charging scooters and returning them to the streets, Lime and other micromobility operators are now embracing models that feature swappable batteries. According to Lime, the Gen4βs swappable battery makes the charging process more streamlined and energy-efficient; vehicles no longer need to be transported to a warehouse for charging. Limeβs new Gen4 e-bike model is also using the same swappable battery.
While some competitors, like Bird and Superpedestrian, have called into question the environmental benefits of swappable batteries, the industry at large seems to be trending in their favor. Veo CEO Candice Xie told dot.LA earlier this year that the micromobility firm is using its Cosmo seated scooter to tow trailers filled with batteries that are swapped into its vehicles in Santa Monica.
βWe don't need to collect all the devices back to the warehouse to charge and then roll [them] out again,β Xie said. βAll we need to do is swap the battery on site, and that increases our efficiency and reduces our operations by 40-to-50% compared to other vendors.β
West Hollywood-based Wheels is testing out a similar strategy in Austin, Texas, where itβs using its own electric seated scooter to swap batteries and service its vehicles, with plans to implement this method in L.A. Meanwhile, a Lyft spokesperson said many of the companyβs maintenance teams are using electric golf carts and e-cargo tricycles to swap batteries on its own micromobility vehicles.
Lime has yet to use electric vehicles in L.A. for charging and maintenance operations, but said itβs in the process of acquiring and implementing them.
Lime says the Gen4βs swappable battery makes the process of recharging its e-scooters more streamlined and energy-efficient.Image courtesy of Lime
The Adoption Issue
Limeβs more eco-friendly approach comes as Angelenos are increasingly turning to shared transit options to avoid record-high gas prices. As of mid-April, Lime had seen its ridership in L.A. grow βabout 35%β in the preceding two-to-three weeks, Edelen said. The companyβs Lime Access equity program, which provides discounted rides to underserved Angelenos, logged 12,000 rides in March, the highest number since its inception.
But despite the lofty environmental goals of micromobility companiesβLime is aiming to have a zero-emissions operations fleet by 2030βsome experts note that their impact on the greater transportation sector is limited.
In a study released in February, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University examined the environmental impact of replacing short car trips with micromobility vehicles during peak travel hours. For context, in the U.S., almost 50% of car rides are three miles or lessβa sweet spot for bicycles, e-bikes and scooters. Using the city of Seattle as a model and factoring in weather conditions, trip type and user demographics, the study found that only 18% of short car trips could be replaced, leading to just a 2% reduction in overall emissions.
Carnegie Mellon assistant professor Corey Harper, a co-author of the study, noted that most carbon emissions come from long-distance travel. βWe have a lot more work to do if you really want to reduce emissions in our transportation sector,β Harper told dot.LA. βBecause even if we were able to fulfill every single trip that could be done by bike or scooter, 98% of emissions would still be there.β
The study suggests that e-scooters have the most impact when combined with public transit as a first- and last-mile option. Choosing to take an e-scooter instead of driving a car has other benefits as well, such as reducing traffic congestion. Ultimately, Harper believes that for people to choose more eco-friendly transportation options, companies and cities have to make those modes more appealing to riders.
Lime is gambling that its redesigned e-scooterβwith its bigger wheels, swept-back handlebars and improved suspensionβwill attract even more riders, and not just because itβs the more eco-friendly option.
In a promising sign, Edelen said that L.A. users are riding the Gen4 longer and rating it higher compared to the previous model.
βRidership is up compared to last year and previous years,β she noted. βComparing this model to our Okai, we are seeing close to double the utilization.β
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Maylin Tu
Maylin Tu is a freelance writer who lives in L.A. She writes about scooters, bikes and micro-mobility. Find her hovering by the cheese at your next local tech mixer.
TrueCar Could be Acquired in the Next Month, Says Analyst
01:04 PM | February 27, 2020
The struggling Santa Monica-based TrueCar, which operates the nation's fourth largest online automotive marketplace, is ripe for an acquisition as soon as the end of next month, according to a new research note from the global financial services firm BTIG.
"Based on our inbound call volume, we believe many investors are wondering if TRUE is now an acquisition target," wrote analyst Marvin Fong.
BTIG says the answer is a strong maybe, given that TrueCar has several attributes of an appealing takeover target, including an empty CEO seat, a small group of big shareholders who own a considerable number of shares, and an attractive set of data on shoppers that would be useful to bigger companies.
BTIG thinks a takeover could happen in the next few weeks because TrueCar's board has said it expects to name a permanent CEO by March 31, which the bank believes would be seen as a sign the company is not for sale. Even if a deal does not happen soon, BTIG puts the odds at better than 50/50 that TrueCar is not a standalone company within the next 36-48 months.
"We see the merits of this idea as the overall listings space is stagnant and cost synergies could be meaningful, making consolidation a potentially value accretive route," Fong wrote.
TrueCar has been on a wild ride since serial entrepreneur Scott Painter founded the company in 2004.
It quickly became one of L.A.'s hottest startups after it appeared to be able to disrupt the half-century-plus relationship between consumers and auto dealerships. But dealerships were not about to go quietly, and in 2012, thousands of dealers exited the TrueCar network amidst complaints about bidding wars that meant they were losing money on transactions.
Still, the company went public two years later and shares have gone from a high of $25.00 to under $3 a share this week.
Michael Darrow has served as TrueCar's interim President and CEO since Chip Perry stepped down in June. Perry had been in the post since the end of 2015, when Painter departed.
In 2018, changes to Google's search algorithm caused a steep decline in TrueCar's website traffic. Just as the company was recovering from that and improving its SEO, USAA recently announced it would end its lucrative partnership, which brought in 29% of TrueCar's unit sales, in October.
USAA remains TrueCar's fourth-largest shareholder with about 9 million shares, which represents 8.5% of the stock.
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Ben Bergman
Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.
https://twitter.com/thebenbergman
ben@dot.la
Billion-Dollar Milestones and Snapchatβs New Features
11:30 AM | October 25, 2024
π¦ Spotlight
Happy Friday Los Angeles!
This weekβs spotlight showcases LAβs thriving tech scene, featuring Snapchatβs latest feature updates and two local startups Liquid Death and Altruist, making TechCrunchβs Unicorn List for 2024.
Image Source: Snap
Snapchatβs recent fall updates bring fresh features, including a new iPhone camera shortcut for instant snaps, Halloween-inspired AI-powered Lenses, and Bitmoji costumes inspired by Mean Girls and Yellowstone. Bitmoji stickers now reflect trending Gen-Z expressions like βslayβ and heart symbols for added flair in chats. Plus, the βFootstepsβ feature on Snap Map allows users to track their past adventures privately, adding a nostalgic touch.
Image Source: Liquid Death
ICYMI, two LA startups joined the Unicorn Clubβachieving valuations over $1 billion. Liquid Death, based in Santa Monica, is a canned water company with edgy branding and a humorous sustainability focus. Known for viral marketing and brand partnerships, it redefines bottled water as a lifestyle brand and environmental statement. In March, Liquid Death closed $67 million in strategic financing, raising its total funding to over $267 million and valuing it at $1.4 billion.
Image Source: Altruist
Altruist, a Culver City-based fintech platform, offers financial advisors streamlined tools to better serve their clients. With a user-friendly investment and account management platform, Altruist has gained strong traction in the finance world. In May, it announced a $169 million Series E funding round, bringing its total funding to over $449 million and earning a valuation of $1.5 billion.
Together, Liquid Death and Altruist exemplify LAβs capacity for innovation across diverse sectors, from lifestyle branding to fintech. Whether reshaping financial tools or redefining sustainable branding, these companies showcase LAβs unique entrepreneurial spirit. Go LA!
Check out TechCrunchβs 2024 Unicorn List here. And donβt miss Snapchatβs latest featuresβperfect for adding some fun, connection and maybe a few selfies this weekend!
π€ Venture Deals
LA Companies
- Carbon Ridge, a developer of carbon capture technology for the maritime industry to reduce ship emissions, has raised $9.5M in a funding round led by Crosscut Ventures and Western Technology Investment (WTI). This investment will help accelerate the decarbonization of maritime shipping. - learn more
- Freeform, a company bringing AI to metal 3D printing, raised $14M in funding from NVIDIAβs NVentures and AE Ventures to further develop its AI-powered 3D printing technology for industrial-scale production. - learn more
LA Venture Funds
- Anthos Capital participated in a $70M Series D round for Carbon Robotics, which develops AI-powered robotics for precision agriculture, and the funding will be used to accelerate the growth of its autonomous weeding technology. - learn more
- Anthos Capital participated in a $3.5M seed round for Plasma Network, aimed at expanding access to USDT stablecoins on the Bitcoin network, with the investment supporting the networkβs growth and efforts to enhance stablecoin accessibility through the Lightning Network. - learn more
LA Exits
- Grandview, a literary management company representing top talent across various entertainment sectors, has been acquired by TPGβs newly formed entertainment venture, Initial Group, in partnership with Untitled Entertainment. - learn more
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