Despite the use of slave labour to extract lithium and cobalt, plus the damage to environment caused by open cast mining, big brands are embracing `green’ e-scooters, to the point where they will send a bloke round with a fresh battery if the hire scooter battery goes flat.
For insurers there remains a big opportunity to ride the green gravy train with Council-backed e-scooter hire schemes, by providing cover for riding legally on the road – not the pavement – whilst sober, not using a smartphone, and wearing a BS/EU standard approved helmet. Many boxes that most e-scooter riders don’t wish to tick in the real world. So the end result may well be very few valid claims, good profits, plus it ticks the ESG box on your annual accounts. Beautiful.
Here’s the news from Spin.
Spin, the micromobility unit of Ford Motor Company, has today reaffirmed its commitment to become carbon negative by 2025 by investing in two new e-cargo bike trials in Essex, UK. In Colchester, working with a new local community-based initiative – the Colchester E-Cargo Bike Delivery Project – Spin is trialling an e-cargo bike delivery service to replace and recharge drained e-scooter batteries. In Chelmsford, Spin is kicking off a trial of the UK’s first custom-made, ultra-lightweight vehicle for e-scooter operators, the EAV 2Charge, which Spin co-designed with EAV Transport Solutions to provide greener logistics for e-scooter distribution and battery exchanges.
“Combating climate change is the defining challenge of our time and through our network of partners, including like-minded UK innovators and local businesses, we aim to transform how we operate the logistics side of our business. E-cargo bikes have the potential to deliver faster, cut congestion and improve road safety in urban areas when compared to vans. That’s why we have integrated e-cargo bikes into our daily operations when it comes to replacing batteries and moving around e-scooters to meet local demand as it fluctuates throughout the day,” comments Steve Pyer, UK Country Manager at Spin.
A recent study in London showed that cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in urban areas while they also delivered more parcels per hour compared to delivering by vans. By removing vans from the roads, road safety is also expected to improve as vans and heavy goods vehicles were involved in more than 30% of fatal collisions between 2015 and 2017.
Colchester E-Cargo Bike Delivery Service
Launched earlier this year during lockdown, Colchester E-Cargo Bike Delivery service supports a range of local independent businesses, and now Spin, with a zero-emission delivery service utilising e-cargo bikes.
Through the initial three-month trial Colchester E-Cargo Bike Delivery Project founder Lee Pugh and his team will replace approximately 20-30 low charged batteries a day across Colchester and take them to be charged at various points across the town, while they are running deliveries for other customers with four e-cargo bikes. With this trial, Spin aims to reduce the use of its vans on the road to help mitigate congestion in the local area.
They will also act as Spin’s on-street ambassadors, a new initiative by Spin to inform the public and riders about the scheme. Members of the public are encouraged to ask questions about the Spin trial and the team will also report any anti-social behaviour and re-park or re-distribute e-scooters to minimise complaints.
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