Lime's Dockless Electric Scooter Service Has Launched in Wellington
You can now zip around the city on a motorised scooter for a couple of dollars.
Need to get from A to B, and keen to do so on a neon green scooter? Well, you're in luck. After setting up shop in Auckland and Christchurch, US-born company Lime has now unleashed its motorised two-wheeled transport in Wellington.
Specifically, Lime is giving its dockless electric scooter service a whirl, initially leaving 400 in Hutt Valley. When the outfit first launched in NZ, it clocked up more than 300,000 rides within a month, so it's clearly hoping for a similar influx of scooting here. The company has been gaining popularity across the globe, with even Uber signing up as a strategic partner.
With biking Lime's domain, its Lime-S electric scooters are of the stand-up variety — like the ones you probably had as a kid, not mopeds. But, with a 250-watt motor, they can reach speeds of just over 27 kilometres per hour and have a range of around 48 kilometres.
They'll cost you $1 to unlock and 30 cents per minute. In terms of hiring them, it works much the same as dockless bikes services that we've seen. You locate a nearby scooter using the Lime app, unlock it by scanning a QR code or entering an ID, and cruise to your destination. You then park and lock the scooter safely out of the way.
Each of the vehicles is also equipped with a sensor, which can tell the operators its location. And for keeping an eye on battery life, that's something that you can monitor via the app.
In Wellington, Lime will add more to spots around the city according to demand, and will also collect the vehicles every night from wherever they end up. As far as the latter is concerned, the aim is twofold: to juice up the scooters for the next day, and to reduce both vandalism and street clutter.
The Lime scooters are now circulating Wellington. To find one, download the Lime App and follow the instructions.
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