Despite more than a million riders, Paris may ban rental e-scooters
Paris is considering an all-out ban on the insanely popular rental electric scooters in the coming weeks, with backers of the plan saying that they clog up the streets and sidewalks, freak out pedestrians, and aren’t even that green due to their “very short life.”
The capital city is home to a fleet of 15,000 rental e-scooters, with 1.2 million riders last year, most of them residents of Paris. Yet the city’s three electric scooter operators, Lime, Dott, and Tier, are all up for license renewal in February 2023. But whether or not that will happen is yet to be determined, with Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo expected to announce her decision in the coming weeks.
The big concern is, of course, safety. Paris had 337 registered accidents tied to e-scooters in the first eight months of this year, from 247 over the same period last year. Last year, an Italian woman walking along the Seine died tragically when an e-scooter carrying two women struck her. Another high-profile case involved the death of two teenagers on an e-scooter in Lyon in August of this year, which led to that city banning e-scooter use for riders under 18.
The operators, however, argue that Paris is already the strictest, most regulated city in the world in regards to their business, with only three operators allowed in the city under three-year contracts, with automatic tracking and speed limits as low as 10 km in some areas, and down to zero as you wheel into a public park. Paris allows e-scooters on bike lanes only, and only one person can legally ride at a time – although this isn’t often adhered to.
Plus Lime, Dott, and Tier say that pointing the finger at them isn’t fair, since rental e-scooters only account for a small proportion of accidents, and represent fewer fatal accidents on a per-ride basis compared to mopeds or cars. France also accounts for Europe’s largest market in e-scooters purchased for personal use, with more than 900,000 e-scooters sold last year – so eliminating rental e-scooters won’t solve the problem.
A supporter of the ban, David Belliard, the Green deputy mayor in charge of transport and public spaces, told Le Parisien that “there has been progress, but it’s still complicated: for example, in parking spots, you can find electric scooters strewn across the ground and people obliged to climb over them, including elderly people.”
While, as a longtime resident of Paris, anecdotally, it’s hard to argue with this observation, but companies say that they are doing more and better every day thanks to geo-tracking software – they cite that 96% of their devices are parked where they belong, and company patrol operators cruise the city to reposition e-scooters gone astray, or that have tumbled over in their parking spots. In addition, Paris scooter companies are exploring ways to prevent more than one person from riding a scooter at a time, including using sensors and ID checks.
What about the short shelf-life of a rental scooter? Paris, like most major European cities, was a very early adopter of rental e-scooters, and early versions were more easily broken and discarded, with the bottom of the Seine River being a popular destination for unused e-scooters in Paris. But times have changed, say the e-scooter operators, with devices now weighing around 30 kg compared to 10 kg. Still, companies say they still pay professional divers to fish e-scooters out of the Seine once a month.
Hopefully Hidalgo, too, will not discount how popular e-scooters are, especially among younger Parisians, with one trip being taken every four seconds in Paris. A recent Ipsos survey, commissioned by Dott, Lime, and Tier, found that 88% of city residents have considered e-scooters a part of their daily transport, with more than half saying they’d already used one, with 82% of this group being aged 18-34.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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