Oh good, Bird now sells a pricey 'electric rose' e-scooter
Say goodbye to the early versions of Bird's e-scooter. The fleet will soon be filled with scooters built for sharing with its newest model, the Bird One, introduced Wednesday. Limited-edition versions are also available for purchase, so you can have your very own Bird e-scooter.
The Bird One offers a longer-lasting battery with a range of up to 30 miles on a single charge. Its steel-reinforced aluminum frame is supposed to be more durable and give it a longer lifespan — Bird says it'll be four times longer than the Ninebot ES scooters currently used in Bird's fleet, which they will no longer buy. The One will first arrive in Los Angeles and will reach other areas in the coming weeks.
The Bird One joins the Bird Zero, the model introduced last fall. Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden said in an email statement that Bird Zero lasts for an average of 10 months and is "now profitable due to its increased lifespan and battery capacity." The One is expected to last for a full year. VanderZanden told the Verge his company breaks even if each scooter lasts for six months; the Los Angeles Times found this week that LA-area Bird scooters lasted 126 days on average — so based on that set of data, they're not quite there ... yet.
The One isn't just for sharing -- you can buy the scooter in limited-edition colors: jet black, dove white, and electric rose. Pre-orders open Wednesday with expected delivery by the start of summer. The scooter is a cool $1,299 — Ninebot and other Segway scooters normally start at around $500 — and comes with $100 in Bird ride credit for those times you don't want to deal with your own scooter (whenever that is). The Bird app will be connected to Bird One purchases, so you can track and digitally lock your vehicle.
Bird also offers monthly scooter rentals for $25 in San Francisco and Barcelona, which sounds like a better deal, but that's a M365 Xiaomi model scooter, not the new One. Ad hoc rentals from the fleet in your city cost $1 to unlock and then start at 15 cents per minute of your ride. But if you really want that electric rose two-wheeler, you should start saving now.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
