New e-scooters arrive in Auckland after death of Lime, Wave
The first e-scooters from Neuron Mobility have been deployed on Auckland's streets, one of four providers given a licence after Lime and Wave lost theirs at the end of 2019.
Neuron plans to roll out 880 e-scooters across Auckland.
The N3 e-scooters - already proven in Brisbane, Australia - have been purpose-built to a commercial-grade, specifically for sharing.
Neuron claims that the scooters "deliver the highest levels of safety, stability and rider experience, giving users an extra level of confidence as they travel around the city.
In order to make safety a focus, the N3 e-scooter has a wide foot-plate for enhanced stability and comfort, large 12-inch wheels with solid silicone tyres to handle uneven ground, and electronic and drum brakes making it highly capable of safely tackling Auckland's hilly terrain.
The N3 e-scooter has geofencing to enforce slow-zones, no-ride zones and no-parking zones. All of Neuron's e-scooters will be delivered with adjustable safety helmets.
"We are delighted to have been awarded a permit by Auckland Council and look forward to delivering our innovative and safe e-scooter service to the City's residents," Neuron mobility CEO Zachary Wang says.
"Our purpose-built N3 e-scooters offer the highest levels of safety, stability and rider experience, we are very excited that they are now available to enjoy right across Auckland through our easy-to-install app.
Riders will be able to book and use the e-scooters through Neuron's app, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
Single trips will cost NZ$1 to unlock the e-scooter and 38 cents per minute thereafter.
More frequent users have the option to purchase Neuron Passes, a subscription service, available in three-day (NZ$25), weekly (NZ$33), or monthly (NZ$89) options. The packages will allow users to ride as many times as they want for up to 90 minutes per day for a fixed price. This will result in no additional unlocking fees and savings of up to 90%.
As part of Auckland Council's move to integrate micromobility into its transport system, it has announced that up to 3200 rideshare e-scooters will be available for use across the city. Of these Neuron has been allocated 880 e-scooters which will be rolled out gradually through January, all will be the latest and safest N3 model.
By the end of the first quarter of 2020, Neuron will maintain a fleet of 2780 patented e-scooters in Asia Pacific.
So far, the company has recorded over a million trips for its user community, enabling more than 200,000 users to cover over 1.8 million kilometres of city travel.
Auckland is the first city in New Zealand for Neuron, however, the company is Australia's largest e-scooter operator with permits to operate in Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin.
