Anyone looking to launch an electric scooter / electric bike fleet in 2022 would be wise to choose from the plethora of SaaS options on the market, instead of trying to build their own platform from scratch (Unless you are at the scale of someone like Bird / Lime).
White labeled solutions provide all of the backend tools and mobile apps (iOS & Android) required to quickly integrate with vehicles and get your rental fleet up and running with minimal engineering overhead. Most of these platforms handle everything from user registration, invoicing and payments, and backend dashboards to monitor and manage your fleet.
As more companies have entered the market over the last 2 years providing specialized software for electric scooter fleets, we’re going to dive into the current options / pricing of each. I should also note, most of these software vendors also support multi-modal transit, so adding bikes, mopeds, and even cars into your fleet is usually possible, as the fundamental technology and IoT integration is quite similar across industries.
Let’s jump into some of the more popular options out there, for operators looking to start a fleet in the US.
Anyone doing a quick google search on fleet sharing software will likely come across this Canadian based company that has been providing electric scooter fleet software over the past several years. Their software works with both scooters and bikes, and the integrate with most of the major hardware companies (Segway, Okai, Acton, Freego, etc).
Pricing is reasonable at $10/month per vehicle for a single location fleet, and $15/month for larger fleets that operate in multiple locations and require different pricing and rule set up for each one.
Geared towards E-bikes and Mopeds, this is a good option with plenty of history for these types of fleets. Unfortunately right now they don’t offer services for electric scooters it seems. The service was previously used for Revel’s moped sharing in the US — so supporting large scale fleets is something they are definitely competent at. They also have many pre-built integrations with payment providers and CRMs.
Their software is more specialized to the niche market of mopeds, so expect a higher cost per vehicle than competitors.
A newer company in the space that has been rapidly expanding their capabilities and integration partners. They support cars, bikes, mopeds, and scooters — and already have integrations with major IoT providers / vehicles manufacturers such as Segway, NIU, Okai, Comodule, Teltonika, Acton, and Omni.
The company has provided software for major operators across mainly Europe, but are expanding to North America and beyond. The major benefit of Atom is their pricing, which is transparent and fair at a monthly cost of $10 / vehicle.
Based in Germany, Wunder has been around for a long time and got their start in ride hailing and then pivoted to car sharing services. While their software has been built to support these use cases, they have quickly expanded it to support mopeds, bikes, and scooters through their acquisition of Fleetbird.
While their software is robust and supports virtually any vehicle / IoT combination, expect to pay more per vehicle. Pricing usually starts at almost $30 per vehicle and they have a higher minimum fleet size than most.
Another German based company that supports multi-modal transit options, and also has developer their own IoT hardware. While it’s a great solution for car sharing and more advanced fleets that require custom telematics, their pricing for a simple scooter / e-bike fleet is going to much higher than the $10 / month offered by competitors.
For Smaller Fleets (<50)
While the above solutions will all support enterprise level fleets, the set up cost can be over $10,000 USD and many enforce a minimum monthly retainer or number of vehicles in your fleet.
As the industry has evolved, several companies in the US have emerged to support smaller, independent operators looking to start a fleet in their hometown at a lower cost.
GOAT started out with their own fleets but has pivoted to provide the hardware and software required to for smaller businesses to launch their own fleet. They will sell you the scooters, which at the moment look to be the Segway Max, and then license the software for use at a 20% commission on all revenue generated from the trips.
Their minimum fleet size is 10, making it much more manageable for entrepreneurs to try their hand in fleet management in a low risk way.
Levy is primarily focused on manufacturing and selling their electric scooters direct to consumer, but they also have a fleet program for independent operators and building owners looking to rent scooters from their space.
Their package includes their own electric scooters and software / mobile apps to manage rentals. They have a lower minimum fleet size, at only 4. And their pricing is comparable at 20% commission, although it seems they provide more with that, including live customer support for riders as well as fleet liability coverage.
Bolt, known for operating their own large city-wide fleets in major cities in the Southern US, also has a program for independent operators looking to start their own fleet.
However, it looks like the program is geared towards larger fleet sizes with a minimum of 200. Think about it more a franchise opportunity for entrepreneurs to launch a fleet in their city without a large upfront investment and with the support of an established company.
Things to consider. While the above options will all help to get your started with your own fleet, there are other costs to think about when deciding to move forward with something like this. For one, the cost of insurance is quite high and hard to come by for these type of rentals. And in addition to the vehicle costs, it’s important to think about the maintenance cost of these when calculating ROI.
