6 ms·

Isnt vandalism a problem with dock-less scooters ? I can imagine someone passing by, picking up one of these and dumping it into a garbage can. Maybe the marg

by yazr 8y ago

Isnt vandalism a problem with dock-less scooters ? I can imagine someone passing by, picking up one of these and dumping it into a garbage can. Maybe the margins are so high they can just effort to replace them ?

dragonwriter 8y ago
> Isnt vandalism a problem with dock-less scooters ? Yes. http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/electric-scooters-accused-of-being-a-nuisance-on-la-streets-are-now-being-destroyed-in-creative-ways http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/electric-scooters-accus...
- bennettfeely 8y ago
  And https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/ https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/
  - rorykoehler 8y ago
    This is one of the most depressing things I've seen in a while.
  - kabacha 8y ago
    But why do people do that? to look like complete tools while doing it? Because then it's a resounding success! Ugh, I feel bad for poor thing and people who have to clean this mess up. If you don't like the scooters petition your gonverment to regulate it.
mikeash 8y ago
I suspect the margins are high enough. These things are cheap, and it doesn't take a whole lot of rides to pay for themselves. If they last a few months on average before being trashed, that's probably good enough. It's also possible that these companies are taking the loss to gain market penetration, hoping to find a solution to the vandalism problem before the VC money dries up.
- IshKebab 8y ago
  Not as cheap as bikes though, and they aren't profitable in many cases. I think a lot of people are being quite optimistic about the economics of these. That said I really hope they are successful. Anything to reduce car traffic.
- kenhwang 8y ago
  They cost <$500 at retail prices. Assuming they have 15 miles of range at max speed (15mph), worst case one charge only gets them $10 ($1 to start + 0.15/min * 60min), $5 of which goes to the person who picks it up and recharges it. That's 100 cycles to breakeven on worse case (one person rides one scooter until it dies). They've disclosed that an average scooter does 5.5 trips/day ($5.50), assuming everyone rides at max speed nonstop, that still ~$14.50/day. Pays for itself in under 2 months.
  - solatic 8y ago
    But that's just the cost of the scooter. On the one hand, they're paying wholesale prices for the scooters, but on the other they need to pay for marketing/sales/engineering/legal/local gov liaisoning/customer + catcher support etc.
  - marsRoverDev 8y ago
    Full retail price in china is 1,999 RMB ($289-300). Wholesale on Alibaba for more than 300 is $153USD per scooter. Bird probably manages to get a further $25-30 off that, so perhaps as low as $120 per scooter, plus perhaps $10 for the bird brain modification and shipping by container, another $10-15. So theoretically, a scooter could pay for itself in 10-20 days if used that heavily. I'd say that they are very capable of absorbing the cost of the occasional one going missing
shaki-dora 8y ago
It happens. Mostly in cases where people are repeatedly annoyed by them, or don't like the stereotypical rider, etc. But, in general, people tend not to destroy stuff just because they can, just like they don't kill old people just because they can't defend themselves, and don't consider "soft paywalls" meaningless just because they can easily fool them. Cars can also easily be scratched, and it's not one of the major problems of humanity. Dockless bike-sharing has been a thing for over a decade. And while there is some vandalism, it's not prohibitive. In fact, people have left their bikes in public spaces for decades. Society would brake down if everything required physical defences against any possible threat. Luckily, people tend to be more Russeauean than Hobbian.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

by yazr 8y ago

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Isnt vandalism a problem with dock-less scooters ? Yes. http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/electric-scooters-accused-of-being-a-nuisance-on-la-streets-are-now-being-destroyed-in-creative-ways http://www.foxla.com/news/local-news/electric-scooters-accus...

bennettfeely 8y ago
And https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/ https://www.instagram.com/birdgraveyard/
- rorykoehler 8y ago
  This is one of the most depressing things I've seen in a while.
- kabacha 8y ago
  But why do people do that? to look like complete tools while doing it? Because then it's a resounding success! Ugh, I feel bad for poor thing and people who have to clean this mess up. If you don't like the scooters petition your gonverment to regulate it.

mikeash 8y ago

I suspect the margins are high enough. These things are cheap, and it doesn't take a whole lot of rides to pay for themselves. If they last a few months on average before being trashed, that's probably good enough. It's also possible that these companies are taking the loss to gain market penetration, hoping to find a solution to the vandalism problem before the VC money dries up.

IshKebab 8y ago
Not as cheap as bikes though, and they aren't profitable in many cases. I think a lot of people are being quite optimistic about the economics of these. That said I really hope they are successful. Anything to reduce car traffic.
kenhwang 8y ago
They cost <$500 at retail prices. Assuming they have 15 miles of range at max speed (15mph), worst case one charge only gets them $10 ($1 to start + 0.15/min * 60min), $5 of which goes to the person who picks it up and recharges it. That's 100 cycles to breakeven on worse case (one person rides one scooter until it dies). They've disclosed that an average scooter does 5.5 trips/day ($5.50), assuming everyone rides at max speed nonstop, that still ~$14.50/day. Pays for itself in under 2 months.
- solatic 8y ago
  But that's just the cost of the scooter. On the one hand, they're paying wholesale prices for the scooters, but on the other they need to pay for marketing/sales/engineering/legal/local gov liaisoning/customer + catcher support etc.
- marsRoverDev 8y ago
  Full retail price in china is 1,999 RMB ($289-300). Wholesale on Alibaba for more than 300 is $153USD per scooter. Bird probably manages to get a further $25-30 off that, so perhaps as low as $120 per scooter, plus perhaps $10 for the bird brain modification and shipping by container, another $10-15. So theoretically, a scooter could pay for itself in 10-20 days if used that heavily. I'd say that they are very capable of absorbing the cost of the occasional one going missing

shaki-dora 8y ago

It happens. Mostly in cases where people are repeatedly annoyed by them, or don't like the stereotypical rider, etc. But, in general, people tend not to destroy stuff just because they can, just like they don't kill old people just because they can't defend themselves, and don't consider "soft paywalls" meaningless just because they can easily fool them. Cars can also easily be scratched, and it's not one of the major problems of humanity. Dockless bike-sharing has been a thing for over a decade. And while there is some vandalism, it's not prohibitive. In fact, people have left their bikes in public spaces for decades. Society would brake down if everything required physical defences against any possible threat. Luckily, people tend to be more Russeauean than Hobbian.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]