PHOTOGRAPH BY TOBIAS HUTZLER
HOW DO YOU get around the city?
More than half of the world’s 7.7 billion
people live in urban areas. The United
Nations says 2.5 billion more people could
join them by 2050. That means traffic and
congestion fees. For many of the short trips
city dwellers make, cars aren’t necessary or
practical. Which explains the boom in bikes
and scooters, privately owned or shared. A
growing number are electric.
“We’re seeing a tremendous push,
enabled by venture capital but not always,
to spread and sprinkle around the world
hundreds of millions of potential vehicles,”
Horace Dediu, founder of research firm
Asymco, said at the BloombergNEF San
Francisco event this year. “Once they’re
available, the bet of micromobility is that
they will be picked up and used.”
One luxury option is the foldable
Gocycle, created by a former designer for
the race car maker McLaren. The GX model,
pictured here on a Berlin street, allows the
rider to customize how much pedaling
assistance the motor provides.
Just remember your helmet.
For BNEF research on micromobility,
type “NSE micromobility in wire: BNEF” and
hit