Bordeaux is the first French city to introduce Link e-scooters, as France becomes the eighth country to adopt Superpedestrian’s micromobility offering.
Some 100 Link e-scooters will be rolled out with electric vans used for the deployment, covering an area of approximately 30sq km. The company said this helps minimise environmental impact, which is important to Superpedestrian as it was certified as 100% carbon neutral earlier this year.
The e-scooters will feature Superpedestrian’s patented Vehicle Intelligence (VI) system. This network of sensors, microprocessors and AI runs 1,000 vehicle health checks every second during a ride and modifies performance to avoid component failures such as battery fires.
VI notifies operations teams immediately if a scooter is not upright with its tip-over detection and removes itself from service if it detects any one of 140 safety-critical conditions, including issues with electronics, battery, motor and brakes.
According to Superpedestrian, VI is like having a full-scooter x-ray continuously, every time its ridden. The company aims to sets a new benchmark when it comes to shared mobility standards, and believes VI is for scooter safety as the seat belt was for cars.
“I’m delighted to bring Superpedestrian’s superior technology and service to the citizens of Bordeaux,” said Haya Verwoord Douidri, VP of strategy, policy and market expansion at Superpedestrian. “We opened our first shared fleet in Europe just 12 months ago. It’s been an incredible journey so far and I look forward to serving French cities with our safe, accessible and sustainable service.”
Read more: Superpedestrian aims for e-scooters in 30 European cities in 2021
