Helbiz is launching in Spain for the first time after winning a tender to operate e-scooters in the city of Alcalá de Henares.
Along with two other vendors, Helbiz has been granted a two-year licence for 1,000 e-scooters, with the ability to extend this for another two years.
The city licensed 2,000 vehicles in total and so Helbiz was allocated half as winners of the proposal.
During the tender process, city officials put particular emphasis on the operational side of the micromobility businesses.
“Two interesting things that Alcalá de Henares focused on are the sustainability of operations and the availability of vehicles on the street,” Helbiz’s Managing Director for Spain, France and Portugal, Roger Puigví, told Zag Daily.
“First, they scored vendors specifically on if they used zero emission vans which allowed us to gain an advantage. Secondly, they scored on the inventory of e-scooters that would be above the licence cap so any that may go out of service on the street can be replaced quickly. This allows a more consistent expectation from citizens, which will allow them to regularly build micromobility into their daily lives.
“This shows that cities are really thinking about the overall experience of micromobility including how to build a transportation network that is good for the planet, not just in the vehicles used by citizens, but what supports the entire system.”
The e-scooters will launch on September 12 2022.
Alcalá de Henares is a university city, easily accessed from Madrid, and a popular tourist destination with around 800,000 visitors a year.
