E-scooter sharing coming to Auckland

Bike-share firm Onzo is putting 2500 electric scooters into Auckland.

The e-scooters are permitted on footpaths and cycleways and don’t require the rider to wear a helmet.

They will revolutionise the way Aucklanders travel around the city, Onzo chief growth officer Min-Kyu Jung says, the NZ Herald

reports.

“We’re designing the system to make it super quick, easy, and cheap to pick up e-scooters for short journeys multiple times a day,” he says.

About 500 e-scooters will next month join the 1541 Onzo bikes already in Auckland, with another 2000 arriving later.

Sporting a 250W motor, the e-scooters can reach about 30km/h and have a 30km range.

Customers use the Onzo app to unlock the scooters from wherever they’re left by the previous rider.

They’re expected to be suitable for first and last mile trips, such as between the office and train station.

Onzo will crowdsource overnight recharging of the scooters to the public.

“We’ll be paying users to bring depleted e-scooters home to charge overnight and leave them in designated areas afterwards for other people to use,” Jung says.

Electric-scooters are designated a low-powered vehicle if they don’t exceed 300W maximum power output, avoiding the need for registration or a driver’s licence.

Onzo hopes to provide e-scooters in other main centres too.

Meanwhile, the Christchurch City Council has approved a three-month trial of a similar scheme.

US-based e-scooter share company Lime plans to put 700 of the scooters in the city starting later this month, hoping to have 1400 there if the pilot is successful. It’s also considering Auckland.