At the beginning of May, a user of Stockholm’s electric bikes overturned after the frame of the vehicle broke. The person had to go to hospital because of the accident.
The incident caused Stockholm Ebikes, which is responsible for the service on behalf of the city of Stockholm, to stop all rentals for safety reasons.
According to Henric Hedenqvist, service manager at Stockholm Ebikes, it was a serious fault on a few individual bikes that was the basis for the decision.
– We have seen cracks in the frame of a few bicycles and also received a few bicycles where the frame has completely broken, this is a design problem on our bicycle supplier Vaimoo’s bicycle and we are now waiting for feedback from Vaimoo, Henric Hedenqvist said then.
Today’s industry was the first to report that Stockholm Ebikes has asked the city to pause the rental for at least six months – this would mean that the capital will be without rental bikes for the entire summer season.
– The status now is that we are still waiting for clear information from our supplier Vaimoo, writes Henric Hedenqvist now in an email to DN.
He states that at the moment there are two possibilities: either the frames of the bikes are replaced, or the entire bike is replaced.
– At the moment, it is probably leaning towards replacing the bike and replacing it with another one, however, this is something we are looking at the possibility of and before that decision is made, we must cooperate with the city and find a suitable plan going forward for this, Henric Hedenqvist continues.
He wants to emphasize that the company is working too hard to find a quick and safe solution.
– We have written in a letter to the city that our assessment is that this could take several months, finding a new supplier and getting bicycles can certainly take up to 8 to 9 months.
Malinda Floodman, press officer at Stockholm City’s traffic office, confirms to DN that they have received a letter from Stockholm Ebikes stating that it will take a long time to get the bikes back in place.
How does the city of Stockholm act on it?
– We don’t really know that yet. We will have meetings about it.
So you don’t know when there are bikes on the streets again?
– No, we don’t know that, says Malinda Floodman.
As DN previously told there have been multimillion-dollar demands in white from the city’s side against Stockholm Ebikes. Over time, the conflict between the municipality and the company has escalated. Earlier this year, it became known that the city is taking the matter to court.
As the company was unable to live up to the agreement, it has paid a fine of just over SEK 6 million. In addition to this, the city of Stockholm demands an additional SEK 10.7 million in fines.
Stockholm’s rental bike system has been marked by concerns since its launch in May last year. In December, there was an alarm that the bicycles’ batteries were flammable and all two-wheelers were cleared from the streets for inspection.
Facts.Stockholm’s electric rental bikes
On 10 May 2022, Stockholm’s new loan cycle system was inaugurated. This is after a bureaucratic process that has been going on for several years and has been marred by several appeals.
According to the agreement with the company Inurba Mobility, 1,000 electric bicycles would have been in place as early as April 1 last year.
The agreement is estimated to be worth SEK 400 million over seven years. According to the agreement, the company must pay SEK 100 per cycle and day because there is a lack of a complete system.
According to the plan, when the system is fully developed, it will include 5,150 electric bicycles and 120 electric bicycles distributed among 300 stations in all of Stockholm’s districts.
Tags: Stockholms rental bikes delayed autumn
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