Theft and vandalism, real challenges for e-scooter rental companies in Bucharest

Renting an electric scooter is the new hot trend in Bucharest, especially as no less than three companies already launched this service in the capital. However, these companies also have to deal with two main challenges: theft and vandalism.

Those stealing shared e-scooters seem to forget that the GPS tracking system installed on them makes it easy for the Police to find them. However, the number of thefts is on the rise.

Representatives of American company Lime said that 10 of the almost 1,000 electric scooters they have in Romania have disappeared so far, local Stirileprotv.ro reported. Meanwhile, people at Flow, a Romanian startup that launched its electric scooter service in Bucharest in May, said that seven of their e-scooters have been stolen and one was destroyed. Another Romanian startup, Wolf-e, also confirmed the phenomenon, reporting an average of two attempts of theft per day.

“We’ve found the e-scooters every time. We even filed criminal complaints. We found electric scooters even in Prahova and Giurgiu,” said Ciprian Paltineanu, representative Wolf-e, according to Stirileprotv.ro. Some of the scooters were found in kitchens, apartments or even shops.

In addition to GPS, shared e-scooters are 50% heavier than those sold in stores and they can’t be folded. However, although companies seem to have taken all the measures to keep them from being stolen, not everyone is discouraged.

Another problem is that the users don’t really know where they can legally ride e-scooters, which weigh up to 40 kg and can reach 25 kilometers per hour. This makes them too fast for sidewalks but too slow for the roads.

While pedestrians complain that sometimes is hard for them to avoid these scooters, drivers say that riding such a scooter on the road increases the risk of accidents, Stirileprotv.ro also informed. Moreover, in Romania, the law does not regulate the status of electric scooters with factory-set speed limits of 25 km per hour.

Three companies launched electric scooter rental services in Bucharest so far, namely Lime, Flow and Wolf-e. They offer about 1,000 e-scooters.

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