The Pony double bike -
Pony
Already deployed in Angers or Bordeaux, the Pony bikes and scooters will be deployed in France and Europe.
The start-up is based on a "single model", offering individuals to buy their machines in order to rent them out.
Among the many bikes available today in
free floating
, we recognize it thanks to its turquoise color.
But Pony Bike has other tricks up its sleeve to try to stand out from its competition.
Based in Angers, the young company offers "a unique economic model" to spread its self-service scooters and bicycles (classic or electric), to be unlocked using their mobile phone.
She has also caught the eye of European experts who have just awarded her the prize for the best start-up in the field of travel.
"It is a mobility operator that will count very strongly in the years to come", estimates Karima Delli, President of the Transport Commission at the European Parliament and of the European Startup Prize for mobility.
Bikes to buy
Already in circulation in Angers, Bordeaux, or more recently in Grenoble, these bikes are about to land in Paris in the spring and in several countries (Belgium, Portugal, etc.) by the end of the year.
Their particularity?
They do not belong directly to Pony: individuals bought them beforehand (1,790 euros for an electric bike) to rent them out and then receive half of the earnings of the races (1 euro for unlocking then 19 cents per minute ).
Pony scooters - Pony
"Thanks to this community of convinced people, word of mouth works," says Pony.
The use of the service is growing, the idea that it is possible to abandon your private car in town too.
All this just by borrowing the vehicle of his neighbor.
»Whenever they wish, owners can withdraw their two-wheelers from the fleet for their personal use.
Some 7,000 potential buyers are already on the waiting list.
Some 1,500 bikes to come to Paris
According to Pony, who refuses to indicate the length of time to make his purchase profitable, "nobody loses money in history."
The damage and theft (a breakage and theft insurance of 10 months for scooters and 18 months for bicycles is included) of these machines manufactured in Taiwan would be "a marginal phenomenon", while the choice was made to use "non-standard" parts to avoid traffic.
Beyond the lucrative and ecological objectives, the experience also seems appreciated for its fun side.
“Everything has been gamified,” we detail at Pony.
The owner can give his bike a little name, know where it is, if the security check by our agents has been done ... He can even choose his gender!
"
Within a few weeks, "depending on the health situation", some 1,500 electric bicycles should be deployed throughout Paris, in predefined areas to avoid the sometimes anarchic nature of this mode of travel.
After the town hall refused the arrival of their scooters, Pony hopes to seduce Parisian cyclists with its famous two-seater electric bikes.
"We want to keep the social side of transport, hopes the start-up, which now has more than forty employees.
The spirit of the journey on the luggage rack, but in much more comfortable and above all secure conditions.
"
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