$500 wholesale a scooter, $2 average revenue a ride, $5 a day to juice them. If one lasts several hundred rides it might make a profit.
Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
281–290 of 342 posts
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd take my bike everywhere if I knew it'd still be there after I finished having lunch, visiting friends, grocery shopping etc. As it is though, my bike isn't even safe chained up in a locked garage.
What's going on in America if absolutely everyone is afraid if theft? Or are the bikes just big target?
first of all, yes, anything of value not bolted down is going to get stolen pretty fast in most american cities.
bikes are a particularly easy target. most people seem to use those U-locks that can only go through the frame and one wheel at most. the thief then pops off the other wheel and either pawns it or sells it for scrap. even if you secure the frame and both wheels, people will still strip the shifters and brakes off of it. people can also just cut the lock itself if they bring the appropriate equipment.
finally, nice bikes tend to really stick out. if you lock your $1000 schwinn alongside a bunch of shitty bikes, the thief will go for your bike every time.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#283Does anyone actually think this is a profitable market? Electric scooters are expensive, repair and charging is expensive. It’s a seasonal business. Vandalism/abuse is fairly common. In terms of any environmental benefit, I highly suspect more gasoline is being consumed to collect and distribute scooters than the offset of a few last mile transports. I suspect the cost to the consumer would have to double for it to m…
Id suspect its the disconnect between wealth and reality. At the end of the day the VC only sees what the VC wants to see. in this case a verdant world of the futuristic e-scooter where each is powered by the fantastic internet technology of the smartphone and destined to enrich and engage the lives of millions while forging a new path in e-commerce that will surely reward the diligent shareholder. unforeseen is the…
How are they slaves? They have the free will to decide if they want to work or not.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#284Does anyone actually think this is a profitable market? Electric scooters are expensive, repair and charging is expensive. It’s a seasonal business. Vandalism/abuse is fairly common. In terms of any environmental benefit, I highly suspect more gasoline is being consumed to collect and distribute scooters than the offset of a few last mile transports. I suspect the cost to the consumer would have to double for it to m…
Your explanation is exactly why environmentalism is losing ground in the public zeitgeist outside of sensational headlines. People thought they would be profitable because large swathes of people liked them. The cities where they've lost ground have passed laws restricting them but the public votes along party lines so no politician of significance cares about the public reaction. The rest of your comment is essentially an appeal to the idea that cities can't have nice things unless they match your standard for environmrntal friendliness. The products were widely used before they were restricted, the public votes with their wallets, entrenched interests found a way around that vote. The cost to the consumer now is that they're basically useless because entitled people like yourself felt that the focus of a city shouldn't be facilitating the things that its people enjoy.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd take my bike everywhere if I knew it'd still be there after I finished having lunch, visiting friends, grocery shopping etc. As it is though, my bike isn't even safe chained up in a locked garage.
What's going on in America if absolutely everyone is afraid if theft? Or are the bikes just big target?
Nice bikes are $3000 - $10000. That's not something you want to leave chained to a lamp post in the street. Any lock can be picked or cut.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd take my bike everywhere if I knew it'd still be there after I finished having lunch, visiting friends, grocery shopping etc. As it is though, my bike isn't even safe chained up in a locked garage.
What's going on in America if absolutely everyone is afraid if theft? Or are the bikes just big target?
There's a market for stolen bikes, and there are enough people whose incentives are such that the rewards of stealing seem higher than the risks of getting caught and punished.
And one place that people land after they fall through the cracks of society is petty theft. In the US, we just have bigger cracks than many other wealthy developed countries. I don't like the theft anymore than anyone else, but I'd rather we not fix it by further criminalizing people through an even harsher police state than we already have, and becoming like even more authoritarian countries.
It's funny that we constantly ask this (very fair) question about common theft, but don't as often express such incredulity at the existence of extreme wealth. These two are connected in many ways.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
Id suspect its the disconnect between wealth and reality. At the end of the day the VC only sees what the VC wants to see. in this case a verdant world of the futuristic e-scooter where each is powered by the fantastic internet technology of the smartphone and destined to enrich and engage the lives of millions while forging a new path in e-commerce that will surely reward the diligent shareholder. unforeseen is the…
How are they slaves? They have the free will to decide if they want to work or not.
Yeah? Depends how you define free will.
If people want to eat and make rent, they need to afford it somehow, and the employment options are bleak (see: charging scooters).
So maybe you meant they have "the free will to decide if they want to work shitty jobs, or not live". We can't be too surprised that the suicide rate is going up in this country.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to be bullish on ebikes for commuting, until I started buying secondhand ones barely a few months old on craigslist at steep discounts for my own family. In every case, the owner had a change of heart and switched to a scooter. Why? Because the ebike is huge and heavy, needs dedicated locking, parking etc. Often there isn't room for it on the bus/train. They all found the scooter way better for last mile style…
Usually city buses have bike racks on front. You're not meant to bring the bike onto the bus.
Ebikes are usually too heavy for those bike racks.
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#289Does anyone actually think this is a profitable market? Electric scooters are expensive, repair and charging is expensive. It’s a seasonal business. Vandalism/abuse is fairly common. In terms of any environmental benefit, I highly suspect more gasoline is being consumed to collect and distribute scooters than the offset of a few last mile transports. I suspect the cost to the consumer would have to double for it to m…
Very simple, have you ever rode a scooter? Once I took a ride along the beach in Southern California, it was immediately obvious, and, I was hooked! It's a disruptive, perfect combination of technologies, that immediately antiquates riding a bike for short distances. The main problem is that it's too good, and people with poor balance, poor judgement, or bad luck, have been in accidents which ruined it for everyone e…
Yeah, I actually had never seriously considered riding one, and thought it was a bit silly, then a friend just randomly suggested going for a ride after we had caught up one time. It's actually really, really fun and pretty great for getting around urban areas.
That said, I'm not sure how sustainable their business model will be because riding Lime and Neuron (a Singaporean competitor that we have operating in some Australian cities) is probably leaning me more towards wanting to get my own e-scooter than regularly hiring theirs...
Re: Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100
#290Until and unless these replace cars on the road, which is unlikely due to weather and other cases like grocery shopping, they will be a nuisance for everyone.
A better solution for private transport over short distances would be low speed neighborhood electric vehicles (basically, big golf carts) that can carry more people and stuff, and coexist with cars, instead of taking pedestrian and bike space. They might not be as safe as cars, but they are safer than the scooters.