Published

Lime Ends Car-Sharing Program

Neutron Holdings Inc. is pulling the plug on its LimePod car-sharing service, which it launched last November in Seattle.
#hybrid

Share

Neutron Holdings Inc. is pulling the plug on its LimePod car-sharing service, which it launched last November in Seattle.

The company, best known for its bright green Lime rental bicycles and scooters, says it wasn’t able to find an electric vehicle partner for the car-sharing program. High operating costs and tight margins also contributed to the decision, according to media reports.

Lime started the Seattle service with a fleet of Fiat 500 minicars, with plans to eventually convert to an all-electric network. Users could book, access and pay for the cars via a smartphone app, paying $1 to unlock the car and 40 cents per minute to use it. Vehicles could be picked up and dropped off at any legal parking spot in the city.

Lime says some 18,000 subscribers have taken more than 200,000 trips in the first 10 months of the program. The company will begin removing the vehicles from the city next month and end the program altogether by year-end.

Lime has deployed its scooters and bikes in more than 100 cities in the U.S. and 20 international cities. The startup, which was valued at $2.4 billion earlier this year, recently topped 100 million rides worldwide.

RELATED CONTENT

  • On Military Trucks, Euro Car Sales, Mazda Drops and More

    Did you know Mack is making military dump trucks from commercial vehicles or that Ford tied with Daimler in Euro vehicle sales or the Mazda6 is soon to be a thing of the past or Alexa can be more readily integrated or about Honda’s new EV strategy? All that and more are found here.

  • On Ford Maverick, Toyota Tundra Hybrid, and GM's Factory Footprint

    GM is transforming its approach to the auto market—and its factories. Ford builds a small truck for the urban market. Toyota builds a full-size pickup and uses a hybrid instead of a diesel. And Faurecia thinks that hydrogen is where the industry is going.

  • GAC, CATL Partner on Two Battery Ventures

    Two new battery ventures are being formed in China by domestic carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group Ltd. and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd.

Gardner Business Media - Strategic Business Solutions