Uber is continuing its multi-modal push with the news that it’s adding electric mopeds to it main transport app.
The ride-hail giant has partnered with French startup Cityscoot, which operates an e-moped sharing service across a handful of cities in France and Italy, to allow travelers to book and pay for an electric moped directly through the Uber app. While this will only be available in Paris initially, starting next month, it represents part of a growing push from Uber to expand its service far beyond on-demand cars.
Cityscoot offers around 4,000 e-mopeds across Paris, and similar to other mobility-sharing services, users can see the location of all the vehicles plotted on a map. Each ride costs around 29 cents per minute, with the payment charged automatically to the rider’s Uber account.
Above: Cityscoot inside Uber
It’s worth noting that Uber already surfaces other forms of transport through its main app, including public transport, bikes and scooters from Jump — a company it acquired last year — in addition to rival scooter services such as Lime. It’s all part of becoming what Uber is now calling the “operating system for your life,” which entails making the Uber app a one-stop shop for transport, food, and more in the future.
While electric mopeds will only be available in the French capital at first, it’s likely that Uber will strike similar partnerships with other urban mobility companies. For example Revel, an e-moped sharing company in the U.S. which raised a chunky $27.6 million just last week, seems like an obvious next-step for Uber’s partnership plans in its domestic market.
“This is the first time Uber has offered e-mopeds in the app anywhere in the world, and we see it as another step towards our goal to become a one-stop shop for all transportation needs,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Combining multiple modes of transport fits with Uber’s plans to cover every transport scenario. Cars are often not practical (or available) for specific journeys, while public transport may not cover all areas of a city — so offering several options makes sense.
According to Uber, it envisages people using Jump scooters for distances below 2km, Jump bikes for journeys of around 3km, e-mopeds for trips of around 4km, and cars for longer journeys of up to 9km.