- Controlled costs and increasing ridership (i.e. less money out and more revenue in).
- The public will judge your service on the bikes availability and level of maintenance.
On one hand, we can see the general trends in bike sharing such as a slight move to ebikes. Specifically, the uprise of new forms of bike sharing : dockless fleet, free floating, company bikes, long-term rental… On the other hand, there is the steady embedding of smart technologies that definitely helps out the fleet operators (GPS being the point “zero” of what is available on the market).
The general movement makes 2 key factors which I mentioned earlier even more critical. Especially because those evolutions to high end bikes require a higher level of technical skills and an obvious higher cost of upfront bikes investment (the costs of building stations is also part of the new business model, but no stations solve new problems that you’ll face, such as proper parking space, bike balancing…). Let’s focus on the bikes and the riders, that any bike sharing business model has in place in this fast moving micro mobility ecosystem.
In this article, I’d like to emphasize how, using the smartest tech on the market, you can finally make your investment in ebike fleet secured and operations profitable. Never heard of it? Luckily you are here, and now you know we have solutions actually we have the all-in-one solution.
eBike Purchase Price
If you are familiar with what you can find in the active bike shops, the initial costs to deploy a large scale of ebike fleet can be scary. Mid-drive engines, hydraulic brakes, torque sensors and other fancy equipments are very interesting, but only if you want to buy one bike for yourself. The actual purchasing price can be 2 or 3 times more when you’re looking for bikes to provide to your future customers.
=> When defining your ebike specifications with the bike manufacturer, you can go for a very basic wheel-based engine and put more money on critical bike parts such as efficient braking system or speed gears.
Leading fleet makers will propose you to implement eBikeLabs smart controller inside the ebikes. Smart controller will provide your cost effective engine with a smooth assistance feeling for the pleasant ride. We can actually reproduce the feeling of an expensive torque sensor among the other functions (users profiles, brake engine when going downhill, speed limit…)
Bike Theft
As experienced by pioneering chinese bike sharing giants, bike theft can kill your business. Especially when it comes to a scale as large as your initial ambition. Paris’ velib registered close to 100% of the fleet stolen in the first years of operation.
=> eBikeLabs solution allows you to remotely and electronically block the engine wheel, avoiding a lot of thieves attacks. Without the fleet manager action, the stolen ebike can not be used or sold on the “second-hand” market. In addition, you might also want to cut your initial investment by getting rid of the mechanical frame locker ($25 to $100).
eBike Fleet Insurance
We work closely with an insurance giant that first understood the strength of eBikeLabs solution in the emerging micro mobility world and is able to propose our clients a bespoke insurance package (avg bike insurance costs in the US : $250-300/year).
Bike Maintenance
A regular skilled maintenance is necessary to provide a top notch service. And for each $1 you spend on upfront fee, you have to forecast at least $1,5 dollar to maintain the fleet. eBike maintenance costs can reach 60% of your total operating costs ($2500 to $4000/bike/Y).
=> Remote maintenance and computer assist bike servicing saves a lot of time and money while producing accurate reporting from maintenance team to the fleet manager. 24/7 predictive maintenance is a perfect way to secure your investments and insure a high level of bikes availability and thus ROI.
eBikeLabs solution has been identified by major bike operating companies as a time and money saver, providing an average savings of $100/bike/year.
What about brainstorming together to make your ebike fleet projects more profitable and efficient? Feel free to contact me!
