Spin e-scooters arrive on Europe’s streets

Ford-owned Spin launched its first European scooter hire service today in Cologne, Germany. With rides costing €0.30 per minute — with no unlock fee — Spin’s e-scooters offer an affordable, reliable and enjoyable way to travel short distance while at the same time facilitating social distancing. From next week Spin scooters will also be available to hire in two further German cities, Dortmund and Essen. 

The e-scooters feature a large sturdy frame and wide platform with solid rubber tires, providing a smooth and comfortable ride – even on cobblestone streets.

Riders use the Spin smartphone app to rent their ride. After downloading and opening the app, users will be presented with a short safety tutorial and can then find their nearest Spin scooter using the digital map. The Spin website also has a handy guide to riding and parking responsibly.

Since launching its first service in 2017, Spin and has kept its promise to always “get permission before acting”, maintaining a high standard of compliance with rules set by city governments while soliciting feedback along the way. Geofencing technology and region-specific firmware on the scooters mean that users won't be able to end their ride in a no-parking zone or exceed the maximum speed limit.

Derrick Ko, CEO and co-founder of Spin:

“Since the emergence of COVID-19, we have facilitated more than 10,000 rides for healthcare professionals, continued to work closely with cities to fill in transportation gaps, and provided our riders with a dependable solo transportation option for their essential trips. As lockdown restrictions are lifting worldwide, we are resuming operations in more of our markets and are ready to launch our product and service in Germany.”

Spin believes that e-scooters, as well as bicycles and e-bikes, are ideal transportation for the coming summer months, especially for short-distance travel. It isn’t alone: a recent survey conducted by Spin and YouGov found almost half of the people questioned were already using or planning to use solo transport for commuting to and from work and for taking trips within their immediate vicinity.

Meanwhile, in response to the challenges of social distancing on public transport, cities throughout Europe have been forced to rethink the use of streets as shared spaces which give people more room to travel safely. Authorities are also investing in schemes and infrastructure to promote new forms of sustainable mobility.

At Ford, our Share the Road campaign has been fostering greater harmony between all road users – whether on a scooter, on a bike or in a car – right across Europe. We will shortly be launching a new Share the Road content hub featuring valuable advice to help everybody get back on the road safely, including best practices for hygiene when using shared transport such as Spin’s new e-scooters.

Visit the Spin website.

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