Ford-owned micromobility firm Spin announced on Wednesday an exclusive partnership with software company Tortoise to bring teleoperated three-wheeled e-scooters to cities across North America and Europe in 2021.
The Spin S-200 scooters, co-developed with Segway-Ninebot, feature turn signals, three independent braking systems and two front wheels for enhanced rider stability. The vehicles are outfitted with Spin Valet, a platform that enables a remote operations team to move misplaced scooters using Tortoise’s repositioning software and the vehicle’s built-in cameras.
Spin will debut the S-200 model in Boise, ID, where 300 scooters will be deployed this spring. The company also plans to offer an in-app “scooter-hailing” feature later this year for riders to schedule or request a real-time scooter pickup within a several-blocks radius.
U.S. media outlets have told colorful stories of “self-driving scooter-bots” since 2019, when Tortoise and GoX debuted the world’s first teleoperated scooter fleet with Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, GA. Many have misclassified the technology as “autonomous” — these scooters don’t actually drive themselves — though it does suggest mobility is gravitating toward autonomy. (This is a concept that Google mocked as an April Fools’ Joke just five years ago.)
Ben Bear, chief business officer at Spin, told Smart Cities Dive that remote repositioning and eventual scooter-hailing can address “one of the big challenges” with shared micromobility: service reliability. “We can make sure that there’s always a scooter outside of your house,” he said.