Bird e-scooter - all information at a glance
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The Bird e-scooter has already conquered major cities and is now coming to German cities. In this practical tip, we explain how much it costs to drive an electric scooter from the USA and what else there is to consider.
Bird - one of the largest e-scooter sharing providers
The starting shot for e-scooters in Germany was given in June 2019. Since then, the scooters of the various rental companies have been constantly distributed across the cities. One of the largest rental companies of the scooters is Bird.
- The American company Bird was founded in 2017 and in the USA countless e-scooters from the rental company are already on the streets. In Europe, Bird's electric scooters are mainly found in major cities such as London, Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Antwerp, Brussels and Zurich.
- In Germany, the company started a pilot project in Bamberg last year. According to the participants, the campaign was successful and the electric scooters were well received. Small problems with collecting the e-scooters in order to recharge them overnight could be eliminated during the pilot phase.
- By default, the app shows which e-scooter has to be recharged. However, if a Bird customer drives home with the scooter and charges the battery there, the sharing provider credits him a corresponding amount. Incidentally, the range of the batteries is approximately 20 kilometers.
- You can currently rent the Bird e-scooters in Düsseldorf. Cologne should follow soon. But these will not be the only cities: Munich, Hamburg and Berlin are being planned. The competition doesn't sleep either.
- In addition to Bird, other rental companies are interested in the lucrative German market. Chip's testers tested the electric scooters from competing sharing providers.
Rent a Bird e-scooter - so it'll work
According to the legal requirements, you must be at least 14 years old in Germany to drive an e-scooter on public roads and paths. You don't need a driver's license. If you want to borrow an electric scooter, the providers usually require a minimum age of 18 years. The sharing provider Bird is no exception.
- So far, the law does not require a helmet. However, that can change quickly. In the short time in which the e-scooters are approved on Germany's roads, there have already been several, sometimes serious accidents with e-scooters. For this reason, severe penalties for violations with e-scooters are already being considered.
- The lending system, as well as the pricing, is almost identical for the large sharing providers. The electric scooter is borrowed via the app. Bird offers a free app for Android and iOS.
- After you have created an account in the Bird app, you can basically get started. The app shows you where the next e-scooter is. You will find a barcode on the scooter with which you can activate the Bird e-scooter.
- At the moment, the prices for using the e-scooter are almost on the same level for all sharing providers. Basically, a euro is due as a so-called unlocking fee. After that, billing is done every minute and this is usually 15 cents.
- This may seem cheap at first, but time is running out and a decent amount comes together quite quickly. You will be billed using your credit card or PayPal account.
- As with all other offers, you should always take a close look at the offers for the scooters so that you don't fall for a nasty price trick from the e-scooter sharing providers.
We will explain the difference between an e-scooter and an e-scooter in our next practical tip.