Yahoo Finance UK government pushed to axe electric scooter ban
A major Swedish electric scooter company has met with government officials as part of a review that could lead to an end of the UK’s ban on electric scooters.
Voi Technology, which has put tens of thousands of electric scooters on the roads of European cities, said on Monday that it had discussed with transport ministry officials how its service could supplement existing transport options.
The company also announced that it had reached five million rides just 10 months after it first launched.
Voi provides electric scooters in 25 European cities, including Paris, Madrid, and Berlin, and will launch in five more German cities this week.
“Voi has met UK transport policy makers and discussed how the company could work with them to complement existing public transport options and bike-sharing schemes,” the company said in a statement.
READ MORE: Berlin becomes latest European city to launch electric scooters
Electric scooters in the UK are classified as personal light electric vehicles, which means that they are essentially treated as motor vehicles.
But even if an electric scooter had number plates and the rider had a driving license, it is currently not possible to register them with the transport ministry — which means they are effectively banned under UK law.
The transport ministry is currently conducting a wide-ranging review of urban mobility, however — something that could see an end to the ban.
Meanwhile, Voi, which employs 400 people, said on Monday that it had reached profitability in its initial markets, such as Oslo and Stockholm.
READ MORE: Lime and Uber fight over London with rival electric bike schemes
“Reaching 5 million rides in such a short time shows the appetite there is for a new way to move around cities,” said co-founder and CEO Fredrik Hjelm.
Hjelm pointed to the firm’s “strategy of partnership and close collaboration with cities” as something that contributed to its success.
The launch of Voi scooters in the UK would see it join an already crowded mobility market.
US tech startup Lime said last month that it could expand its electric bike hire scheme outside of London, while Uber introduced a fleet of bikes in Islington.
