Electric Bicycles And Scooters May Soon Drive To The Charging Stations On Their Own

Electric scooters and bicycle-sharing services have been finding increased use across cities and if we were to name the big players in the game, Uber, Lime and Bird would certainly rank high. A common dilemma that they all face is how to reduce their expense on maintenance of these scooters.

The costing comes from the outsourced upkeep of the shared scooters and bicycles, usually to local contractors. These contractors are responsible for collecting the scooters and bicycles from the customer¡¯s drop point and charging or repairing overnight while they¡¯re not in use if need be.

Uber has apparently found a way around it now. The firm is putting together a team of engineers to develop autonomous electric scooters and bicycles, which will be able to drive themselves around cities to reach charging points and even customers.

Reuters

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The ride-hailing firm recently confirmed that hiring for a new ¡°micromobility robotics¡± team had already begun. The team¡¯s objective would be to come up with such self-driving scooters and bicycles, saving the company¡¯s cost on contractors for the task.

While Uber has not released any more information on the ETA of the concept or the regions it will be tested in first, it is interesting to note that Uber recently had its self-driving car division temporarily shut down due to a fatal crash in Arizona. The company¡¯s endeavour to pursue such future mobility technologies, including flying taxis and autonomous cars, has not been dwindled, it seems.

Uber has been bullyish towards the electric scooters market too, acquiring Jump an electric bike sharing service back in April. Post this, the firm has been offering its electric scooters line-up through the Jump service in the US.