Check out Lime’s new seated electric scooter with shopping bag storage and ‘women appeal’

Lime has a new electric scooter dropping today, and you’ll want to be seated for the announcement… and for the ride. The new scooter, creatively named the “Gen4 Seated,” adds a padded platform to the ride for a more comfortable and stable experience.

Today’s new scooter launch doesn’t just include the updated seat. That’s the main selling point, but underneath that seat you’ll find something perhaps even more crucial for those that want to use scooters for everyday vehicle replacements – a cargo storage compartment.

Hidden away under the seat platform is an open container that can hold shopping bags or loose cargo, meaning riders won’t have to dangerously dangle bags off of the handlebars.

Structurally, those are the main two additions to the scooter, which is largely built on top of the existing Lime Gen4 standing electric scooter platform. That means it uses the same motor, the same removable batteries and reaches the same 15 mph (25 km/h) top speed.

But the new seated design is said to appeal to a much wider audience. From a pilot study earlier this year, Lime shared that “results from the pilot found the vehicle appealed to older riders, women riders, and riders with limited mobility more than Lime’s traditional e-bike and e-scooter offerings. For example, the Gen4 Seated attracted 33% more first-time female riders than Lime’s Gen4 e-scooters.”

It’s true, why stand when you can sit? The seated design isn’t only more comfortable on longer rides, but it also makes the scooter feel more stable due to the lower center of gravity. For those that have years of bicycle experience, even if that experience was gained long ago, a seated electric scooter is easier to pick up more quickly. For many people that are new to scooters, it just feels more natural.

Now available in Chicago and Milwaukee, Lime plans to launch the Gen4 Seated scooter in a dozen more cities in the coming months. Australia and New Zealand launches are said to be slated for later next year.

As Lime’s president Joe Kraus explained:

“We’re excited to roll out the Gen4 Seated scooter globally to welcome more riders onto the Lime platform. The new design allows for added comfort and, when paired with our new storage compartment, will provide for more use cases, encouraging more people to consider Lime to fit their needs. The Gen4 Seated aims to empower our riders to navigate their day-to-day with ease, welcoming a wider audience to micromobility via a more approachable and comfortable ride.”

The Gen4 Seated scooters will be available to rent on the street just like Lime’s existing scooters, offering a more accessible option for daily commuters or occasional errand running.

This isn’t the first time Lime has explored seated scooter options. Just over a year ago Lime unveiled a dedicated seated electric scooter built on its own platform, which itself replaced a previous partnership with NIU seeing electric scooters and mopeds operating under the Lime umbrella.

Electrek’s Take

This is a risky move as a straight, white, able-bodied male brimming with privilege, but I’m going to go there. I can actually see this being quite attractive to female riders. The reason I say that is because I know that each time I say to my wife, “Do you want to go there on scooters?” she just gives me that look.

She’s got nothing against micromobility. She loves her e-bike and she bikes to work almost every day. But there’s just something about standing scooters that don’t sit right with her. Maybe it’s the vulnerable feeling of standing, or the small wheels, or the fact that she can’t put both feet down for stability while moving slowly like she can on a bike. Whatever it is, when we’re out in the city and don’t have our bikes with us, I’ve never been able to convince her to just rent scooters for quick trips. But this… I can see her liking this. She’s loved riding other seated moped-style electric scooters in the past for this very reason – they feel more stable to her. And I’m guessing my wife isn’t unique in that sense.

Of course these won’t only appeal to women. I’d ride a Gen4 Seated Lime scooter too. But the biggest benefit, in my humble opinion, is for all those out there that have previously said, “Nah, a scooter isn’t for me.” Maybe now it is.