Abandoned e scooter plague, Repo man luvs dem

[chickenHeadKnob]

For those of us who have seen the movie "Repo man" you will know that "repo man is intense" even if he is confiscating e scooters that are littering private property.
Specifically the share scooters that are advertised as ride anywhere, leave anywhere. I would think that these scooters would have harvestable batteries and other valuable components which would nullify the business model via outright theft.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/24/20696405/dockless-scooters-share-repo-men-repossessor-lawsuit-tow-yard-lime-bird-lyft-uber-razor

[ataradov]

They are being harvested, but I guess there is not a lot of demand for second hand batteries. I sometimes walk past somewhat secluded space where I see dozens of those scooters in a busted up state. I assume this is the work of a homeless population, and they have limited access to ways to sell that stuff.

[f4eru]

it's an investor bubble, i.e. it will deflate and self-limit given time, coz it's fundamentally not sustainable on a big scale.
But leaving behind heaps of trash in the process, unfortunately.
Reusing batteries is a good idea, but it's still really wasteful.

[thm_w]

You can see how it turned out in China: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-share-oversupply-in-china-huge-piles-of-abandoned-and-broken-bicycles/556268/

[free_electron]

That e-bike folly will go on until someone sues for tripping over one and breaking an arm.
they are literally littering the streets with those things.

[chickenHeadKnob]

What I find fascinating is that the guy's who think they are the smart ones and call themselves venture Capitalists are unintentionally creating an ecological niche where real small fry agile capitalists solve the problems the smart ones have created with mal-investment.

[nctnico]

You can see how it turned out in China: https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-share-oversupply-in-china-huge-piles-of-abandoned-and-broken-bicycles/556268/

Wow... just wow...  and I was thinking Amsterdam was bad:


These are not shared bikes BTW but people's own bikes parked near the central station (which is in the background).

The lack of regulation is what is leading to mayhem. Still I think the electric scooters are a good alternative to public transport. It sure is faster but it will need special lanes.

[free_electron]

somehow i think that the only ones making money of this are the guys selling the bikes and scooters to the rental companies ....

[David Hess]

The lack of regulation is what is leading to mayhem.

Is that caused by a lack of regulation or a lack of the local government having any motive to meet the requirements of the population?

[Synthtech]

I’m still trying to understand how people ride around on electric scooters that don’t seem to have any charging system. They can’t be using solar and regenerative charging?

[ataradov]

I’m still trying to understand how people ride around on electric scooters that don’t seem to have any charging system. They can’t be using solar and regenerative charging?

If you mean those scooters that litter the streets, then they are charged by other people that are getting paid for that. They go out and collect discharged units and recharge them, often in their houses.

Those people also move them to the good locations. At the end of the day all those scooters end up scattered far away from the places they are actually useful. So the same people with trucks collect them and move them closer to places with people.

[chickenHeadKnob]

I’m still trying to understand how people ride around on electric scooters that don’t seem to have any charging system. They can’t be using solar and regenerative charging?

If you mean those scooters that litter the streets, then they are charged by other people that are getting paid for that. They go out and collect discharged units and recharge them, often in their houses.

Those people also move them to the good locations. At the end of the day all those scooters end up scattered far away from the places they are actually useful. So the same people with trucks collect them and move them closer to places with people.

In the verve article I linked in the first post, they call themselves "juicers". Although not directly stated they appear to be independent contractors that collect a bounty per scooter, and so fight with the guys repo-ing them and holding the scooters for ransom in an impound yard.

[Marco]

Until people have to pay a security to pay for illegal parking tickets this will just continue. Without skin in the game of course people will dump them where it's convenient for them (or a highly cohesive society, but that boat has sailed)

[KL27x]

If you mean those scooters that litter the streets, then they are charged by other people that are getting paid for that. They go out and collect discharged units and recharge them, often in their houses.

Those people also move them to the good locations. At the end of the day all those scooters end up scattered far away from the places they are actually useful. So the same people with trucks collect them and move them closer to places with people.

Some of these compaines pay an extra rescue fee, apparently, for people who get these far away or long-disused scooters, recharge them, and put them back into circulation. The reward goes up in relation to the time and/or distance.

Apparently the fee for simply recharging the scooters is not very much, compared to the cost of the electricity. So some of these independent contractors are taking scooters and tossing them into hidden or inconvenient locations for this "score" to go up, then going and retrieving them at a later date.

[Seekonk]

As they say in the movie, Sometimes scooters blow up from natural causes.

[SiliconWizard]

Funny how we manage to trash our environment and make it a dumpster even with "green" equipment that's supposed to be better for our environment.

Makes you really wonder if we're ever going to be anything but a lost cause whatever we try.

[FreddieChopin]

Scooters are fun but because of their tiny wheels so many people have ended in A&E with broken arms, legs, sometimes face injuries requiring surgery 

At least with a typical mountain bike used for daily commute potholes and poorly made sidewalks are only an annoyance not potential health hazard.

[james_s]

The biggest problem with all of these bike and scooter sharing programs is helmets. I suppose if I were to incorporate it into my daily routine I could carry a helmet around with me but I have never once been in a position where I spontaneously decided I needed a bike and happened to have a helmet with me.

Then there is the issue that a large number of people have no respect at all for stuff they are not financially invested in, so it's no surprise these things get abused and vandalized, it's just the nature of humanity I guess. They're all over Seattle and I mostly see them being ridden by homeless people.

[Marco]

The Hovding airbag-collar is an interesting gadget ... maybe e-scooters should come with tethered airbag collars?