So bike-sharing is taking over the world, e-bikes are a thing, but scooters like the classic Razor are so “naughties”.
Put them all together and you’ve got the latest trend in Silicon Valley (which, for our sins, tends to be where the next new thing in our lives will come from).
And that’s shared electric scooters, of which Bird is the first (and most likely not the last).
Calling itself a “a reliable last mile electric scooter rental service”, it raised US$15m a month ago and now wants $100m more.
And as you might imagine, there’s already been some backlash.
It’s “wheelmageddon” in San Fransisco, and the brown bombers of Santa Monica have them in their sights (and have already settled a $300,000 fine with the company). The usual issues of helmets and riding on footpaths will undoubtedly arise.
Maybe the answer is more of Tesla-style own-it-but-get-free-charging model – which is already being tried.
