It seems like everywhere you look in a big city, there’s someone zipping along on an electric scooter. Many of these will be temporary hires rather than rider owned, and most – if not all – will be stand-up models. OjO and Austin Commuter Scooter have teamed up to offer Austin commuters a sit down alternative.
The fleets of ridesharing e-scooters from the likes of Lime and Bird are made up of powered kickscooters that users unlock from docking hubs throughout a city using an app, ride to a destination and drop off at another hub. Such services can help reduce inner city automotive traffic, reducing pollution while allowing riders to get from A to B quickly and easily.
The OjO Electric commuter scooter is a little different, sitting somewhere between those ubiquitous kickscooters and a Vespa-like electric two-wheeler.
As well as offering a seated or standing ride and a built-in cargo basket, a swappable 48-volt Li-ion battery unit housed under the non-slip deck is promised to give a per charge range of 50 miles (80 km), and its HyperGear hub motor rolls up to a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h), meaning that it should be OK for use in bike lanes around town. Elsewhere there’s all weather tires, disc braking, front and rear LED lighting and heavy duty shocks.
It can be remotely geofenced using a telematics system so that it won’t work outside of its designated zone, and speeds can also be controlled with the same CalAmp app technology. And it features integrated speakers to provide riders with audible navigation, traffic alerts and other trip information (including the location of nearby docking stations and notifications of approaching geofence limits). Users will also be able to stream music from a Bluetooth-paired smartphone through the audio system.
“We are excited to help bring OjO’s innovative scooter to market and provide a scooter that current riders and the rest of us can ride comfortably,” said Elliott McFadden of Bike Share of Austin, which is owned by Austin Commuter Scooter. “We think it says a lot about Austin that OjO would decide to make this its first launch market, and we are happy to provide our operational expertise and first rate customer service to make it a success.”
OjO rides into Austin with sit-down/stand-up e-scooter rideshare [New Atlas]