How to rent an electric Scooter in Stockholm.

Rent an Electric Scooter in Stockholm. Brands like Voi, Lime, Tier and many more can be rented in Stockholm. You have probably seen the electric scooters or kickbikes all over town by now. But how do you operate them and what's the difference between the brands and models. Hopefully you will find this guide on how to rent and electric scooter in Stockholm useful.

What is an electric scooter?

When people talk about scooters the used to refer to those small Vespas and mini motorcycles. Now you usually refer to an oversized kickbike with an electric motor. Because the scooters actually goes under the same law as an bicycle you can use the pretty much anywhere you like. On the street, sidewalk, cycle lanes and in parks. Basically is a way of transporting yourself from one destination to another or as a way to go on a sightseeing across town. Late 2019 a new type of electric scooter turned up on the streets of Stockholm that looks like a small motorcycle that you sit on. A fair guess is that you will see many of them during the spring and summer of 2020 in Stockholm.

How to rent a electric scooter in Stockholm

First of all you need to download an app to your phone. You can choose one brand or download multiple apps so you can choose an electric scooter that is closest to you. Follow the steps in the guide below on how to operate an electric scooter in Sweden. If you already have the apps, skip to step 4.

1. Download the app of your choice
2. Create an account
3. Choose payment method
4. Find a scooter by looking around or use the map function in the app. It will show you where the closest available scooter is.
5. Unlock the scooter by scanning the QR-code
6. Put one leg up on the scooter and create a little bit of speed by pushing away in the ground with the other foot. Now press carefully on the gas and you are away.
7. Be careful in traffic and on sidewalks, remember that you are the one responsible to stop and give way for pedestrians. You are operating a vehicle and in Sweden that mean that you are the one how needs to watch out.
8. When you are done or if the battery runs out, you simply finish your ride in the app.
9. Done, have fun.

Where do i park an electric scooter in Stockholm?

In several places in Stockholm there is a big yellow markings on the ground where you can park your

scooter when you are finished. Use this as much as possible to make it easier to walk. If you see a small waveform och metal plates attached to the ground there is a good chance that you are standing on a marking for people with reduced eyesight. Please make sure the scooter is parked correctly
During the summer of 2018-2019 the street of Stockholm got crowded with Scooters parked pretty much everywhere. It was after this chaos that the city made special parkerings.

What brand is best for electric scooters?

There are many different operators and brands of electric scooters available in central Stockholm. Naturally the numbers increase during the warmer month but you can find scooter all year round. What brand is best for you is pretty much your decision. Here we list the biggest and most used brands and operators in Stockholm.

Price may change over time and time of the day. (1 USD/EUR= est.10 sek by early 2020)

Voi https://www.voiscooters.com/sv

Voi was early on the Swedish market and you find their scooters pretty much everywhere. Voi has four different models available. To stand-up models called Voiager 1 and Voiager 2, one bike called Voi Bike and and a cargo model called Voi Cargo.
Voi also launched their own parking racks for electric scooters in late 2019.

• Price: 10 sek to unlock (1 USD) and 2.50 sek/min.
• Range: 20 km /12,7 miles with a fully charged Voi.
• Speed: 22 km/h

Lime https://www.li.me/en-us/home

• Price: 10 sek to unlock and 3 sek/min
• Range: 50 km
• Speed: 24 km/h

Tier https://www.tier.app/sv/

• Price:10 Sek to unlock, 1,50 sek/min
• Speed: 22 km/h

Circ https://circ.com/

• Circ has over 200 electric scooters in Stockholm
• Price: 10 sek to unlock, 3 sek/min

Bird https://www.bird.co/

• Price: 10 sek to unlock, 3 sek/min

Wind https://www.wind.co/

• Price: 10 sek to unlock, 3 sek/min

Moow

Moow showed up on the streets of Stockholm in the summer of 2019. Early 2020 and the website is down but the app is still in appstore.
Price: 10 sek to unlock, 1.50 sek/min

Batterylife and speed of electric scooters

How far can you travel on a electric scooter is like asking how long a rope is. If the scooter is fully charged the range is 15-50 km. But it also depends on you weight, how fast you are going and a number of other things. The range of an electric scooter doesn't really matter either, if you run out of battery you can just grab another scooter and continue riding.

Age Limit on electric scooters in Sweden

What age limit is there on electric scooters in Sweden? This is where it gets a bit tricky. Electric scooters that isn't faster than 20 km/h are to be considered as a bicycle and goes under the same laws as bicycles in Sweden. That means that if you are under the age of 15 you have to wear a helmet by law but you are allowed to use electric scooters.

But, you also have to follow the rules set up by the brand och the scooter. Some brands have an agelimit set to 15 or 18 years of age to drive a electric scooter. Look at your app to make sure you are following the rules and updated laws.

But if the scooter is faster than 20 km/h and/or have a engine stronger than 250 watts its to be considered as a moped class 2. A moped class 2 have stricter rules and mostly scooters can't live up to that. If that's the case, scooters are only allowed to be driven in an enclosed area which the city isn't.
Read more on the subject

https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/Press/Debattartiklar1/eldrivna-sparkcyklar--vad-galler/

What does it cost?

As shown above the price is pretty much the same on all brands of scooters. To unlock a scooter usually costs 10 sek and to drive it, it costas 2-3 sek/min. Considering that Stockholm isn't a huge city, you get quite far in only 10 minutes and you can even use the scooter for sightseeing in Djurgården.

What does the law say about electric scooters?

Read above under Age limit on electric scooters.

Impact on the environment. 

There has been a lot of debate on the impact electric scooters have on the environment. Since the scooters turned up on the streets of Stockholm around 2018 many people use scooters instead of taxis, ubers and their own cars. This reduces the traffic and pollution in the city. But at the same time there have been criticism that electric scooters have a short lifetime, ends up in the water and that the overall production and charging have a impact on the environment. The debate will probably continue but it's likely scooters will be a big part of the transportation system in cities all over the world.