You have probably noticed groups of scooters parked at busy intersections in Voronezh. Electric scooter rental is a new and rapidly developing service both in Voronezh and in other major cities. The trendy name is: kicksharing (from English kick scooter=scooter, sharing=to share). To use the service, a smartphone and a special application are absolutely required.
How does it work?
Payment for scooter rental is per minute. You can travel on it within a defined zone – typically the city center. You can pick up a scooter in one place and return it in another. Each scooter is equipped with special hardware that allows the company-owner of the scooter to monitor its location and battery charge, as well as to lock or unlock the motor. All operations are automated, meaning the start of the rental, the ride, the return, the payment, the locking and unlocking occur without the participation of any service personnel, via a smartphone application.
Which companies offer kicksharing?
In Voronezh, at the moment (April 2021), the following competing companies offer electric scooter sharing services:
1. Whoosh
A Russian company, founded in 2019 by former top managers of S7 Group (air travel) with a starting investment of $1 million. The company recently attracted large investments from VTB and Otkritie structures (about $25 million) and continues to develop rapidly. Company website: https://whoosh.bike
Whoosh rental zone in Voronezh:
2. Urent
A Russian company, founded in Sochi in 2018, started with bicycle rental, then expanded into electric scooter rental. It attracted investments of 1.2 billion rubles, including from Sberbank. It claims to own the largest fleet of scooters in Russia. It operates in 20 cities through franchisee partners. Company website: https://voronezh.urent.ru
Please note: Urent can be hailed not only through its own application but also through the popular Citymobil application, with which a technical integration was recently completed.
Urent rental zone in Voronezh:
How to rent a scooter?
It’s simple if you have a smartphone on Android or iOS. The procedure is roughly the same for Whoosh and Urent. Screenshots of the Whoosh application are shown below as an example.
- Download and install the Whoosh or Urent application (Citymobil can be used instead of Urent).
- Register: add your mobile phone number and payment card, grant geolocation permissions, and you can also grant permission for auto-substitution of confirmation codes.
- Find the nearest parked scooter of the corresponding company using the map in the application (or visually in the city).
- The scooter’s parameters, its model, and cost will be shown. The scooter can be reserved for 10 minutes for free.
- Scan the QR code on the handlebar or manually enter the scooter code. After this, the scooter (lock) is unlocked, and you can ride to any point within the rental zone. The rental time count has started.
- To end the ride, find any parking spot on the map and press the Whoosh button. The application will show your route, rental time, and cost. You are also required to take a photo of the parked scooter. The rental fee will be immediately debited from your card. If a refundable deposit was pre-debited from you, it is returned.
How much does it cost?
The rental cost is calculated according to tariffs. The tariffs are as follows (as of the end of April 2021):
- Whoosh – from 0 to 50 rubles at the start of the ride plus 4-5 rubles per minute of rental, the price changes dynamically depending on demand. Also, a deposit of 500 rubles will be debited from the card at the start of the ride, which will be returned upon completion of the rental. There is also insurance (which can be declined) of 35 rubles per ride, which covers your liability for damage caused to your property/health, as well as the property or health of third parties.
- Urent – 30 rubles at the start of the rental, 4 rubles per minute of rental. Refundable deposit of 200 rubles, debited at the start of the rental, returned upon completion. Insurance 30 rubles. When renting through the Citymobil application, the deposit is 500 rubles. Urent also has a special tariff “Until the battery dies”: you can take a scooter for 12 hours for 338 rubles, then 5 rubles/minute, the charge may be enough for 1-2 hours of movement.
What scooter brands are offered?
- Whoosh offers Xiaomi brand scooters, adapted for rental. Speed up to 25 km/h, battery charge lasts for approximately 30 km. In Voronezh, S, M, L models (conditional names) are offered, differing in wheel diameter and maximum charge.
- Urent provides Ninebot scooters of ES4 and other models.
Personally, I tried the Whoosh M model scooter, and I liked it: good power, a smooth ride on inflatable wheels, 2 brakes on the left side of the handlebar – mechanical and electric.
Who charges the scooters and how?
The scooters are serviced by a special team from the owner company around the clock: they are put on charge or their batteries are changed, washed if necessary, and repaired. The service teams work around the clock.
Where can one ride, according to the rules?
The situation with electric scooters (as well as with Segways, monowheels, gyroscooters) is ambiguous: traffic rules do not know or write anything about them. Whoosh believes that electric scooters are closest in characteristics to bicycles, for which there is a requirement to move either on bicycle paths or on the right side of the roadway. However, frankly speaking, it is dangerous for an inexperienced electric scooter user to ride on the roadway: scooters are very maneuverable and swift, so, to paraphrase Zhvanetsky, one wrong move, and you are under the wheels of a car. I would recommend riding on the sidewalk, but at a speed of no more than 10 km/h, so as not to run over pedestrians, and only venture onto the roadway where there is no intense traffic.
Unforeseen situations
- What happens if you accidentally leave the rental zone?
The scooter will give a warning signal and lock. You should immediately return within the rental zone, otherwise the lessor may suspect the scooter is being stolen, will deactivate the battery, and the user will be charged a serious fine. After the scooter is returned to the rental zone, it unlocks.
- What happens if you accidentally hit a pedestrian?
First, you need to apologize. Furthermore, if you did not decline the insurance before the ride, it will cover the damage caused to the pedestrian, up to 300,000 rubles. To receive insurance, you need to record everything that happened and provide information about the insured event to the insurance company within 3 days.
- What happens if you accidentally get injured?
End the ride and take measures to treat the injury. Insurance covers damage caused to the health and property of the scooter user.
- What happens if you accidentally break the scooter?
Immediately contact support. As Whoosh support explained to me, if the damage to the scooter occurred through your fault, you are responsible for the damage. If the scooter failed NOT through your fault, the company will obviously solve the problem independently.
- What happens if you accidentally steal the scooter?
According to Whoosh, nothing good. Since the service’s cloud platform monitors the location and status of the scooter, attempts at theft will be prevented in various ways, up to and including dispatching security. If the theft occurs, the platform will render the electronics, battery, and motor irreversibly inoperable. More details on the various rental nuances are described in the application’s FAQ in the “Support” section:
Conclusion
Kicksharing (electric scooter rental) is a new way of getting around the city that is actively developing in Russia and around the world, and Voronezh is keeping up! We recommend residents, especially young people, to try this service.
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