E-scooter and e-bikes in Vellmar: New mobility offer conquers the city!

E-scooter and e-bikes in Vellmar: New mobility offer conquers the city!

in Vellmar, a city in Germany, a new offer for the loan of e-scooters and e-bikes was recently introduced. The test phase started a week ago and lasted a total of three months. During this time, residents and visitors to the city can choose from 24 provision points that include a total of 75 e-scooters and 20 e-bikes. The provider of this new mobility concept is the Estonian company Bolt, which is already active in other cities such as Kassel and Baunatal.

In order to borrow a vehicle, users first need the Bolt app on their smartphone. Payment is conveniently via various digital payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or credit card. The app not only shows the current location of the vehicles, but also the remaining battery charge. Users simply scan the QR code on the e-scooter or e-bike to open the lock and start their journey.

The loan in detail

The author: The time has taken the time to test the new system. At the beginning they drove to the University of Kassel, which, however, brought with it some challenges. The path on uneven cobblestone streets was not exactly comfortable, and the old models of the borrowed vehicles ensured a shaky driving experience. The signs of use of the e-bikes and e-scooters in particular were clearly visible, which indicates the age of the fleet, which, according to Bolt, comes from the fourth model generation.

With the technical functioning, however, there were no defects. The brakes worked perfectly, the lights glowed and driving was possible despite the acoustic sound that the vehicles generated when accelerating. However, the e-scooter reached its limits when he had to drive uphill; Here the speed values ​​fled into the single -digit range. The e-bike, on the other hand, managed to keep its speed uphill.

An interesting aspect of the loan is the registration of the vehicle submission. Users must take a photo of the place of delivery to confirm that the vehicle was properly parked. This is intended to prevent the vehicles from being left behind in unsuitable places. After successfully submitting, the users receive an invoice on their smartphone that brings up the costs transparently.

costs and conditions of the loan

The costs for the loan of an e-scooter amount to 49 cents for unlocking and 19 cents per minute, while the use of an e-bike costs 23 cents per minute. An example from the test: A 35-minute drive with the e-scooter cost 7.73 euros, while the trip with the e-bike was around 8.05 euros.

Although driving with the new vehicles is quite fun and doing technically smoothly, the test drivers criticized that prices for longer distances are relatively high. If you stayed with public transport, you would get to your destination both faster and cheaper. Trips with the tram to Kassel cost only about 4 euros and are therefore much cheaper.