Today TIER, a leading European e-scooter company, has unveiled its most advanced scooter yet to hit the streets at an event in London today – with user swappable batteries, a built-in helmet and indicator lights.
The best-in-class e-scooter enables users to earn free rides by swapping out batteries at charging stations which TIER plans to set up across UK cities. These stations will form part of a charging network for e-vehicles which TIER has already started building across Europe. Taking this approach creates an even more sustainable operation as much of the congestion previously associated with operating e-scooter fleets is eliminated, while operating costs are also greatly reduced.
The charging technology was pioneered by the innovative London-based hardware startup Pushme, which TIER acquired earlier this year. Pushme has its manufacturing base in Aylesbury, Oxfordshire, where the charging stations are assembled.
Placed inside convenience stores, cafés, and other partner locations, the charging stations are fully-automated and require no store staff oversight, while requiring no installation either. Hosting a charging station comes at no cost for partners as TIER pays for all required electricity. At the same time, the charging stations can help to attract new customer visits and increase sales, while reducing the carbon footprint of customer travel, helping businesses reach their own climate goals. TIER’s vision is to introduce the same swappable battery to its prospective portfolio of shared vehicles so that in the future all will be powered by the same user charging network across Europe.
Lawrence Leuschner, CEO and co-founder of TIER, said: “Today marks a step change in safe and sustainable travel around our cities. By integrating this new kind of swappable battery technology, we are building a Europe-wide charging network that allows users to play an active part in adopting climate-neutral travel and building better cities. At the same time, by hosting the charging pods in local businesses, we are helping high streets to recover from lockdown. This is a crucial step in TIER’s electric revolution to make mobility better. It is our plan that in time our charging network will not just service e-scooters, but other vehicles too.”
TIER is also taking part in the race to win contracts for e-scooter trials in the UK, since the UK Government approved trials for rented e-scooter schemes, in a bid to foster more ‘socially distanced’ methods of urban transport. TIER is competing alongside startups like Swedish startup Voi, who just closed two exclusive contracts, and Irish startup Zipp Mobility who also just gained approval for UK trials. TIER is aiming for big areas like London, where it believes it can replicate the approach which recently helped it to win highly competitive tenders in Paris and Lyon.
TIER is also confident in its chances of winning these UK contracts as it believes that the new features added to its e-scooter cement its position as the most sustainable and safest operator in the industry. The new scooters will have a foldable helmet, and indicator lights on the steering bar and back fender that clearly signal the rider’s direction to other road users. This adds to other safety features developed by TIER, including the largest front wheel in the industry, a wider foot plate, dual suspension, a double kick-stand and dual drum brakes for stable riding on uneven surfaces and conditions.
Since it was founded in 2018, TIER has launched in 70 cities and was the first micro-mobility provider to be certified as climate-neutral. The company plans to roll-out its swappable battery technology across all its operations by the end of 2021 and is actively seeking strategic partners to the charging pods.
