Paris is rolling out charging infrastructure that will charge any e-scooter or e-bike, regardless of operator or brand as part of a mobility hub pilot.
Duckt, an Estonian startup, has been awarded the contract by Paris&Co, the innovation agency for the French capital, to install 150 “dock, lock and charge” points across the Rive Gauche area of Paris.
The project aims to demonstrate how universal charging infrastructure can accelerate micromobility use to reduce climate impact in the city.
Dott, Lime and Tier currently run the shared e-scooter contracts for Paris and are rumoured to be the favourites to run London’s shared e-scooter trials when they start this spring.
Will London launch its own fixed micromobility hub scheme?
Brighton-based Qi Managed Services is the company launching Duckt in the UK.
Chief executive Stuart Palombo is seeking to establish a pilot with London and the selected e-scooter operators, when the trials start this spring.
Palombo told Zag: “The solution is operator agnostic and works with both e-bikes and e-scooters with either fixed battery, swappable battery solutions.
“In the long term, it is compatible with private micromobility vehicles as well as the shared fleets creating a fully usable and integrated infrastructure.”
While Palombo said there have been discussions with cities, towns and national rail operators to pilot their solution to work alongside the UK’s current e-scooter trials, it now just needs an e-scooter operator to “raise their hand” to get a pilot off the ground.
Qi wants link mobility hubs like train stations with micromobility transport for onward journeys.
So instead of jumping in a taxi or car to your next destination, a fleet of e-scooters and e-bikes would be docked and charged right at the station.
E-scooter trial operators in the UK are currently using a mixture of parking and charging solutions, including marked hubs, docks or hybrid solutions.
Voi, the current UK market leader, told Zag recently it is planning to ramp up its own parking infrastructure as it looks to boost volumes in the UK.
However, Palombo believes establishing a docked universal infrastructure for micromobility in the UK will help to further support towns and cities hit their net zero targets.
He added: “This will also make them safer, quieter, more accessible and enjoyable — and, perhaps most important of all, more sustainable places to live.”
