Electric scooter-sharing companies are pretty much all over the place these days. Lime and Bird are the major players, but there are more than a dozen other companies offering rental e-bikes and e-scooters. However, a new type of shared electric scooter is getting ready to hit the streets this month. And this one has not two but three wheels.
E-mobility and ride-sharing company Gotcha is preparing to debut electric leaning trikes that offer a more comfortable and faster way to scoot around than conventional scooter-sharing companies.
Gotcha introduces shared electric trikes
South Carolina-based Gotcha operates in over 20 states in the US.
They offer e-mobility rides on everything from electric shuttles to conventional electric scooters and bicycles.
But now the company is offering a new ride – electric trikes.
The Gotcha trikes are leaning three-wheelers designed to reach a maximum speed of 25 mph (45 km/h).
The exact model appears to be the Doohan iTango, which is a unique but highly capable electric vehicle. The delta trike shape and leaning motion makes the Gotcha Trikes incredibly stable and comfortable to ride. They also offer a seat large enough for two riders – though the company hasn’t made it clear yet whether they will allow tandem riding. If not, there’s still plenty of space behind the seat for a backpack.
The Gotcha Trikes can travel up to 40 miles (64 km) on a single charge, which is much farther than standard electric scooters can reach.
To prove how capable the Gotcha Trikes are, Gotcha’s CEO and founder Sean Flood is currently half way through a 979 mile (1,576 km) trip. He’s riding a Gotcha Trike from Talahasse, Florida to Austin, TX where the company will be debuting the trikes at the SXSW festival on March 10th. Members of the public will be invited to try out the novel new EVs on March 11th. Those interested in riding a Gotcha Trike can RSVP via the company’s Facebook page.
According to Sean:
“Gotcha’s fleet of e-mobility products delivers a holistic suite of vehicles that provide viable micro-transit options for our riders. We want to revolutionize the way people view shared mobility. Our e-trike gives riders an alternative option that provides added stability, longer trips, and more accessibility.”
A crowding space for electric scooters
The Gotcha Trikes are certainly a novel form of shared electric scooter. They will make Gotcha the first company in the US to offer shared electric trikes as well as the first company to offer four different modes of shared EVS that can be rented via a single app.
While Lime and Bird have provided millions of rides on their own shared electric scooters, the speeds and ranges are much lower. That has left some riders desiring faster modes of travel and others complaining about scooters that are constantly running out of charge.
While the companies scramble to release new version of their scooters with higher battery capacities, they could be no match for the more comfortable Gotcha Trikes.
What do you think? Could you see yourself riding a Gotcha Trike? Let us know in the comments below!
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