[bschwindHN]

Wouldn't it make more sense to make the batteries replaceable? Just have them locked in place until a "charger" person authenticates through the app, then allow them to swap in a fresh one. At that point transport would be reduced to just moving the batteries around instead of the whole scooter. They could still be charged at home.

People might steal them but the article already mentions that some people steal them already.

[aembleton]

It would but that would require custom designed scooters. These are Xiaomi M365 with some additional electronics - https://www.gearbest.com/skateboard/pp_596618.html

[bschwindHN]

Ohhh, that explains it! I wonder if they'll have to switch to that kind of charging system in the future, this current model doesn't seem all that economical.

[camtarn]

It's an interesting point. Perhaps the reason they ask people to move the scooters is that they also sometimes need scooters to be retrieved from weird places and left somewhere more convenient.

So, sure, a scooter which was used and left on a main street can just stay there and get its battery swapped, but maybe it's not worth trying to figure out which scooters need moved and which battery-swapped, and to get the chargers to do the right thing in each case.

The fact that they pay different prices per scooter might invalidate this, but just a guess.

[IncRnd]

No, it would make less sense to Bird to do that. They are shifting the costs to freelancers. Purchasing double the number of battery packs costs Bird.