New company launches scooter fleet in Charlotte, including free wheelchair attachment
A new e-scooter company is making it’s Charlotte debut — and rides are free for the month of May.
Helbiz, the latest scooter company to bring its wheels to Charlotte, is bringing something else new too — free adaptive vehicles, including a wheelchair attachment and a sit-down, three-wheeled device.
The scooters are available through the Helbiz app. Helbiz already has scooters present in Durham, Miami, Washington, D.C., and 10 other U.S. cities.
Helbiz tells users to check the Helbiz app for local rates after the free month in Charlotte. According to the app, scooters in Durham cost $1 to unlock plus $0.35 per minute.
Headquartered in New York, Helbiz also has scooters available in Italy, France, Serbia and Singapore, according to the company.
Charlotte is the first U.S. city to offer the Helbiz adaptive vehicles, Helbiz representative Vivian Myrtetus said in a statement.
The Helbiz wheelchair attachments and three-wheel sit-down scooters are available by request, by calling or texting 888-974-9074.
Riders will be trained on how to charge and use the vehicles, and can use the vehicles for a week at a time, free of charge.
The Helbiz scooters features a camera under its handlebars, enabling an AI-powered obstacle avoidance system. The scooter slows down on sidewalks and is able to recognize pedestrians and road edges, according to Helbiz.
Scooters and controversy in Charlotte
Charlotte offers a few other scooter companies too, including Lime, Bird and Spin.
In August, Bird upgraded its previous Charlotte scooters to a more “eco-conscious” model, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
Scooters have proved controversial in Charlotte in the past, with Charlotte City Council spending months in 2019 debating new regulations on the shared scooters.
In January 2019, city council voted to ban scooters from some sidewalks in part of uptown, as well as cap e-scooter speeds and charge scooter companies a per-unit fee, the Observer reported.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 1:27 PM.
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