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6 carmakers that are betting electric scooters and bikes - not cars - are the future of city transportation

Brittany Chang   

6 carmakers that are betting electric scooters and bikes - not cars - are the future of city transportation
Transportation1 min read

The new Volkswagen concepts Streetmate (left) and Cityskater (right)

  • Carmakers are investing in electric portable mobility transportation by creating either concepts or full-blown new products, including e-bikes and e-scooters, at an increasing pace.
  • While concept micro-mobility ideas like Volkswagen's scooters have an uncertain path to production, others, such as Peugeot, already sell a full line of products - and have for years.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Carmakers are increasingly looking towards new ways to move people around, including tapping into the rising trends of e-bikes and e-scooters.

Audi announced on Monday the development of its e-tron Scooters, almost a year after announcing its fully electric e-tron SUV. Other carmakers, like BMW and Ford, have already been exploring the electric personal micro-mobility market through collaborating with established players.

It's no surprise carmakers are looking towards the booming e-mobility market. E-scooter company Bird reached a $2 billion valuation in under a year of operation in 2018, according to Inc. Similarly, one of Bird's largest competitors, Lime, has a $2.4 billion valuation, the company announced in February.

Read more: These are 12 of the most innovative transportation products on Indiegogo right now, from hover shoes to AI-powered motorcycle helmets

Ridesharing companies such as Uber have also been exploring the space. Their e-bike share subsidiary, Jump, has already launched in several cities, including Providence, Rhode Island and Sacramento, California. Lyft also has a stake in the electric bike ridesharing community, although the San Francisco program was recently halted after two bikes caught on fire.

Whether it's electric scooters or bikes, here are all the car companies making moves into creating electric micro-mobility products.

Get the latest Ford stock price here.

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