Today we celebrated the news that we've been selected to provide e-scooter service for Transport for London and London Council’s e-scooter trial in the UK capital!

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Over the past three years, we've operated a successful e-bike service in London - serving more than 3 million zero-emission rides to date. The deployment of our Generation 4 (Gen4) scooters as part of the London trial, expected to launch in the coming weeks, will make Lime the only multi-modal operator in the capital, providing two safe and sustainable transport options for Londoners as the city eases lockdown restrictions and begins to open up.

Our Gen4 e-scooter is the only in-house designed, developed and manufactured scooter to be selected for the London trial. With a braking distance half that of other rental e-scooter models and nine high-visibility reflectors and lights onboard, the Gen4 is built for safety. Its swappable batteries also reduce the overall environmental impact of maintaining the fleet, as we use e-cargo bikes to make battery swaps rather than having to transport scooters to and from warehouses for charging. Scooters deployed in London will also have interchangeable batteries with our new Gen4 e-bike model, soon to be available on London’s streets as well.

“We're proud to have already served more than 400,000 Londoners through our shared e-bike service over the last three years, and are delighted to now be able to bring our latest e-scooters to London," said Lime CEO Wayne Ting. "By offering two safe, convenient and zero-emission travel options through the Lime app, we hope to serve all trips under five miles and contribute to the development of a greener transport system that's accessible for everyone.

London is one of the world's greatest cities and we’re humbled that Transport for London and London Councils have placed their trust in us to deliver the e-scooter trial in the Capital. We are now focused on developing a world-class e-scooter service for residents and visitors to London - improving and innovating alongside TfL, the Boroughs and the other transport operators to ensure Lime works for every Londoner.”

Lime has served more than 400,000 customers in London, and it now becomes the site of our latest e-scooter trial in the UK. In August of 2020, we launched the UK’s first full scale e-scooter trial in Milton Keynes, and we've since secured two further schemes in Greater Manchester and in Salford with over 120,000 rides safely delivered to date between the cities.

With both e-bikes and e-scooters in London, we're proud to be the only operator in Europe to have multiple modes available to citizens in all EU capitals including Paris, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Berlin, Stockholm, Budapest and Warsaw. We've found that riders appreciate having multiple options available in their city, with each helping to accommodate different trip types and preferences. E-bikes tend to serve longer trips between 1-2.5 miles, while scooters provide a great way to make short trips of close to a mile, while serving as an ideal way to connect with public transport.

In markets where both e-bikes and e-scooters are available, we've identified a symbiotic relationship between the two. For example, when e-scooters are added to a city that already has e-bikes, the number of trips on e-bikes increase. It's likely that the availability of more modes and increased reliability as a result, help to encourage riders to replace their car trips with more environmentally-friendly ways to get around, all of which is great for cities.