Riding a Wave

EVtalk tested a Wave electric scooter, launched on March 12 in Auckland, to see if there’s any difference to the Lime ones.

First impressions are that it’s slightly smaller.

Unlocking it caused some anxiety when we couldn’t find a Wave app. That’s because it’s under partner and EV ride-share Bird. Once the Bird app is loaded and the account set up the Wave’s QR code is scanned with your smartphone and you’re off.

It’s similar to unlocking a Lime – and the cost is the same too, $1 to hire and 30c a minute riding. That cost us $4 for 10 minutes.

The most obvious difference between a Wave and a Lime is the brakes. While the Lime has a handlebar mounted brake lever, on the Wave it’s a red push down button marked “stop” on the handlebars to the left and a back-wheel stomp brake. Pushing the red button slows you quickly whereas stomping on the rear “mudguard” brake or foot brake brings you to a sudden halt (especially when you operate both together, which you probably shouldn’t as it could pitch the rider off).

Both accelerate reasonably well after an initial kick off with the foot. The Wave is governed to about 15km/h in the downtown Auckland area where we tested it but can reportedly reach about 25km/h. The Lime we used got up to 27km/h in the same area.

The Wave ride seems smooth and stable, and it has a front light but rear lights on both sides rather than one rear facing light.

We took our own helmets, and both the Wave and the Lime have bells.

The Lime is recognisable by its green box (which squawks if you don’t unlock the scooter), whereas the Wave is black with “Wave” in white on the upright and includes a smaller “Segway” for Segway Ninebot, with a “black box” mounted in the centre of the handlebars.

The Wave also has a card about the company and how to operate the scooter tied to the left handlebar, which can be slightly annoying when it flaps in the wind.

Still, it’s another way of getting around and you just hit “end ride” to finish and, like the Lime, take a photo afterwards to show you’ve left it intact and parked it safely and properly.