The Scoot Network introduced an electric scooter sharing service to San Francisco back in 2012 featuring one of the world’s cutest scooters, and now the company has ventured into the electric car sharing game with the introduction of its first four-wheeler EV, the Scoot Quad. It’s adorable, right?
Just the other day CleanTechnica was taking a look at the growing popularity of “neighborhood” electric vehicles, meaning EVs that go low on speed, battery range, and size. You could classify them as slightly souped up golf carts with weatherproofing among other comforts.
The car sharing angle is also growing in popularity, and it seems that Scoot is banking that the next generation of car-sharing EV lovers will be drawn to vehicles that offer a bit more style than the average golf cart.
When Scoot Network first launched, the company faced a bit of a tussle over the idea of scooter sharing. The question was whether or not you needed a motorcycle license. Scoot argued that all you needed was a smartphone and a US drivers license, and apparently they were right.
CleanTechnica checked in on the company last year and the “Zipcar for electric scooters” plan was sailing along. The company currently boasts a fleet of 400 electric scooters in San Francisco, with a range of 20 to 25 miles.
While electric scooters are loads of fun, the scooter-centric business model was not particularly friendly to several demographic groups and the weather-wary. Introducing a neighborhood EV to the fleet was a great move.
Scoot introduced the new Scoot Quad on Instagram just yesterday with this shot:
We also got some more details from the manufacturer, Nissan, which markets the new neighborhood EV under the name “New Mobility Concept.”
Nissan is clearly focused on at least one non-scooting demographic sector that could be interested in a neighborhood EV, as well as small households:
The Nissan New Mobility Concept is an ultra-compact 100% electric vehicle that was developed in response to rising numbers of senior citizens and single-member households, along with increasing use of automobiles for short-distance trips by up to two people…
For those keeping score at home, New Mobility Concept has a range of 40 miles and a top speed of 25.
It’s no accident that Scoot settled on Nissan for its dive into EV car sharing. Last year, CleanTechnica noticed that Nissan had already launched a successful EV car sharing service in Yokohama using the New Mobility Concept, which appears to have a lot in common with Renault’s Twizy EV.
If Twizy is starting to ring all kinds of bells, you might be thinking of the 3-D printed EV under development at Local Motors, which features a Twizy drive train.
Local Motors is pretty confident that its 3D-printed car can be on the market as early as next year, which certainly gilds the lily as far as EV car sharing goes.
The company is also involved in a series of EV car sharing initiatives at university campuses in the US, so it looks like the car-sharing public could get behind the wheel of a 3D-printed EV sooner rather than later.
Source: CleanTechnica. Reproduced with permission.
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