Bird's newest e-scooter is bigger, bulkier, and silver
The black-and-white days of scooter-sharing company Bird are over. Welcome to the silver-and-black era of the Bird Two. Oh, and it looks massive.
The new two-wheeler will be distributed around Bird's global fleet starting next week, joining Bird's older scooter models already up and scooting. Bird scooters are currently rentable in more than 100 cities in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. The earlier generations look smaller compared to the new design. Here's a Bird in Canada, looking trim and tiny:
If you're in a scooter-friendly city, you'll soon be able to take a ride on the upgraded scooter. Bird calls its new design "durable," while others may say "massive" or "hefty." Compared to Bird One -- the e-scooter released a few months ago to update the Bird Zero with a longer 30-mile battery range -- the new battery lasts 50 percent longer. But with extended battery time usually comes a bigger size.
The larger Bird is using its heft to its advantage for a more solid riding experience on city streets. It claims puncture-proof tires can withstand bad roads. If something does break (or get vandalized), a self-reporting system flags damage to the vehicle, supposedly hastening repair time.
Hacking Birds' "brains" (aka the computer system that allows users to access the scooters with their smartphones) was becoming a common problem, so Bird added an anti-theft encryption feature. We'll wait to see if that works.
And don't forget about the industrial-grade kickstand that apparently makes it harder than ever to tip over. This version is learning from past mistakes and hiding the screws so vandals can't mess with the vehicles as easily.
You can still buy your own Bird One or rent one for a month in certain cities, like San Francisco.
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.
