6 carmakers that are betting electric scooters and bikes â not cars â are the future of city transportation
Carmakers are increasingly looking towards new ways to move people around, including tapping into the rising trends of e-bikes and e-scooters.
Audi announced on Monday the development of its e-tron Scooters, almost a year after announcing its fully electric e-tron SUV. Other carmakers, like BMW and Ford, have already been exploring the electric personal micro-mobility market through collaborating with established players.
It's no surprise carmakers are looking towards the booming e-mobility market. E-scooter company Bird reached a $2 billion valuation in under a year of operation in 2018, according to Inc. Similarly, one of Bird's largest competitors, Lime, has a $2.4 billion valuation, the company announced in February.
Ridesharing companies such as Uber have also been exploring the space. Their e-bike share subsidiary, Jump, has already launched in several cities, including Providence, Rhode Island and Sacramento, California. Lyft also has a stake in the electric bike ridesharing community, although the San Francisco program was recently halted after two bikes caught on fire.
Whether it's electric scooters or bikes, here are all the car companies making moves into creating electric micro-mobility products.