Wave Scooters launched in Auckland

Wave is the latest electric scooter hire business to launch in Auckland following Lime’s entry.

The launch, involving a Maori blessing and powhiri, was held on March 12 in Mangere.

Pricing will be similar to Lime’s, according to founder and managing director Albert Hoeft.

Australia-based Wave is expected to start with several hundred e-scooters from March 13, with a licence to operate 1000.

Riders will be able to use them with an app in a similar way to Lime.

Wave’s scooters have a 25km/h top speed but will be restricting speeds to 15km/h in popular pedestrian areas such as Queen Street and around waterfront areas the Wynyard Quarter and Viaduct Basin.

Wave will host pop-up events, have an ambassador programme, and run a “safe rider of the month” award for helmet use and safe riding.

it will follow some similar guidelines to Lime, including immediate reporting of any safety issues to Auckland Transport and the Auckland Council.

This follows concerns about the safety of Lime’s e-scooters which saw its licence suspended seven days after a glitch caused wheels to lock up and sent riders flying, the company rectifying the problem and Limes returning to Auckland and Dunedin streets on March 7.

Wave and Lime both have their Auckland trials end on March 31.