Voi spreads e-bikes and kick scooters through Europe

The Swedish sharing provider Voi Technology has now presented its expansion programme for Europe. It includes 150 cities and municipalities and is associated with the roll-out of a number of improved electric scooters and e-bikes.

Launched in Sweden in August 2018, Voi is now present in 18 cities in nine countries, namely Aarhus, Copenhagen, Linz, Moviepark in Germany, Malmö, Lund, Uppsala, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Paris, Lyon, Lisbon, Faro, Malaga, Marseille and Madrid. Expansion into Germany, Belgium, Poland and Italy is imminent.

In the latest expansion plan, Voi is now targeting 150 European cities and putting special focus on the German market. There “the activities are to start already in the coming month”. Competition in the micro-mobility market is tough, with US firms such as Uber, Bird and Lime all expanding in Europe.

At the same time, the Swedes have been working on improved scooter models. The result is an electric scooter called Voiager 2, the first model to be based on Voi’s modular architecture VOI MSA and to become the new flagship of the fleet. Its design allows easy maintenance, repairs and upgrades, they say. Especially for the German market, the Swedes have also designed a variant called Voiager 1, which “exclusively complies with German vehicle regulations”. Germany is currently waiting for the final approval of the Small Electric Vehicle Ordinance (eKFV). It is up to the federal council that could adopt the new regulations on 17 May.

The two types of electric pedal scooters were developed and designed in Sweden. They both have a replaceable battery and a range of up to 50 km – almost twice as much as previous models, according to the manufacturer. Both variants are expected to be introduced in Germany, Belgium, France, Finland and Spain this summer.

“We’ve listened to what our users have to say about driving an electric scooter and have developed these new models from the ground up,” comments co-founder and CEO Fredrik Hjelm. He added that the fleet “can be adapted to the needs of any city,” depending on geography and infrastructure.

In addition to the e-scooters, Voi is now also introducing an e-bike and an e-cargo bike. This gives city councils the opportunity to offer a complete MicroMobility-Sharing solution that can be easily integrated into local public transport, says Voi. The Voi Bike is specially designed for sharing requirements, supports speeds of up to 25 km/h and also has replaceable batteries. In addition, the Voi Cargo has a large box with a three-point belt on the front and can also be used to recharge the Voi electric pedal scooters.

Users book the Voi electric bikes and kick scooters via app by scanning a QR code. The app works in any city, similar to offers like Uber.

reuters.com, eu-startups.com, bikebiz.com

Additional reporting by Nora Manthey.