Lime announced that it has launched an e-bike fleet swap in Melbourne, upgrading its e-bike offering to the Gen4 model to provide its safest and most sustainable ride yet. The brand new e-bikes join the fleet of Gen4 e-scooters that Lime launched in February, meaning that every Lime vehicle in Melbourne now boasts the most cutting edge safety features available.
Lime builds and designs all of its vehicles in house with safety in mind and the fleet upgrade is part of Lime’s ongoing commitment to provide the safest possible micro-mobility experience.
What does this mean for Melbourne?
Melbourne is the first Aussie city to have a full fleet of both new models available showing the potential for the future of micro-mobility throughout Australia as Lime builds on its foundation of safety to continually improve the experience for riders, pedestrians, and cities as a whole.
“At Lime we take great pride in designing and building our vehicles in house, using our global expertise to create the best and safest hardware possible. This fleet upgrade is an investment in our Australian operations that we are overjoyed to make and a doubling down on our commitment to the city of Melbourne,” said Hugo Burt-Morris, General Manager of ANZ.
“Our goal is to help Australian cities build resilient transport networks of the future by providing shared electric vehicles everyone understands are safe and easy to use. We expect riders in Melbourne will love these new e-bikes and pedestrians and everyone not on two wheels will appreciate the safety upgrades they provide,” Hugo Burt-Morris further said.
Since Lime launched in Melbourne, over 200,000 Lime riders have travelled over 2 million kilometres. Those rides on Lime vehicles have kept an estimated 209,000 car trips off the road, while saving over 100 metric tons of carbon emissions as well as nearly 43,000 litres of petrol. Lime is proud to say that over 99.99% of those trips have been completed without incident, in line with global safety figures on which Lime focuses in every city it serves.
Lime designed these new shared electric vehicles in house with safety in mind. Lime is one of the only operators to do this, never buying off-the-rack scooters and customising them.
Why are Gen4 models a unique offering?
The Gen4 models provide riders with the safest and most environmentally friendly rides Lime has ever offered. Both the Gen4 e-bikes and e-scooters change the game with the addition of a swappable battery, which will drive even greater efficiency in operations and further reduce the carbon emissions of riding a Lime vehicle. The Gen4 models also improve rider and pedestrian safety, with hardware upgrades designed to improve rider stability and safety.
In Australia, Lime has outfitted its new models with a groundbreaking helmet awareness system developed in consultation with local govt partners that is detachable and trackable.
This tech recognises when a helmet has been detached from a scooter, ensuring helmets stay with the e-scooter when not in use and reducing the potential risk of street clutter from a wayward helmet. Proactive education occurs after a rider has been detected on a footpath, Lime follows up the ride with a reminder to ride on the roadway via a push notification and in-app message, and the rider in question receives an email reminding them of the rules.
What are the upgrades?
Upgrades to the Gen4 e-bike include:
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An automatic two-speed transmission that eliminates the prior generation’s gears for easier acceleration and smoother ride;
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A new handlebar display mirroring the one on Lime’s scooters for a standardised display across vehicle types;
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A phone holder, allowing riders to easily navigate and follow directions without having to stop and look at their phones and therefore improving safety;
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Increased motor power to help riders easily climb hills;
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A modular design, extending the usable life to five years.
Highlights of the Gen4 e-scooter
Highlights of the Gen4 e-scooter include:
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Swept back handlebars, a first for shared e-scooters and reminiscent of bike handles, allowing for a more comfortable grip.
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Dual hand brake system to make slowing and stopping easier and more immediate.
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Lowered baseboard to optimize the center of gravity on the scooter.
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New kickstand with two legs to help avoid scooters from being tipped over when parked, which can help to reduce clutter on sidewalks.
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Enhanced suspension and larger wheels mean a smoother ride over cracks, warped pavement and anything else the cityscape can throw at you.
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Integrated and digitally enabled helmet which users can access before they ride, and that we can detect whether its there or not
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Swappable batteries, which are interchangeable with our Gen 4 e-bike [40km of riding]
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Wide low chassis to keep the rider super stable
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Symbol-based screen (instead of words) to ensure that all riders, regardless of background or language can understand any communication
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Front and rear lights, visible from over 200m
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Safety messaging on the rear fender
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Contact details on the side of the scooter that goes directly to the local team
