Electric scooter manufacturer Skip unveiled the newly ruggedized S3 today. Designed with enterprise grade features, the tougher S3 electric scooter should be better equipped to withstand the brutal life of a rental EV. Yes, these are rentals … they are not for sale!
Who Is Skip Scooters?
Skip Scooters is, in short, a scooter rental company that offers shared electric scooters for last-mile transportation in Austin, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.. Skip is unique in that it makes sturdier scooters with more battery capacity, offers instructional classes for safe metro scootering, and works with cities interested in testing this fledgling clean-energy transportation alternative.
What Is Special About The Skip S3 Electric Scooter?
The Skip S3 electric scooter was designed completely in-house with two main goals: durability and longevity. Extending the life of an almost disposable micro-mobility rental is paramount when the average shared electric scooter rarely lasts more than 90 days.
The first upgrade is a stronger motor with more torque. This provides for increased acceleration, improved hill climbing (important in Skip’s native San Francisco), and less overall wear on the diminutive drivetrain. Also, the motor was brilliantly moved to the rear wheel, resulting in better handling and reducing the chance of endo (flying over the handlebars face-first) upon sudden decceleration.
Operationally, the most significant upgrade came to the batteries. The S3 electric scooter has an easily swappable battery, keeping the scooter off the charger and on the street making money for more hours in a day. In addition, the new batteries are waterproof, which serves to reduce both the effects of muddy puddles as well as those unfortunate times when ne’er-do-well vandals decide to launch your fleet into a river.
When Will The Skip S3 Be Available For Public Use?
The S3 Electric Scooter will begin testing in Skip’s home-city of San Francisco in September with a wider rollout (see what we did there) scheduled for October. If all goes well, we should see the more durable scooter deployed throughout Skip’s fleet early in 2020.
Source
Skip Scooters: Company Website
