Lime burst onto the scene with dockless bikes and scooters, but has made no secret of its ambitions to become a bigger player on the transportation scene. After dropping “bike” from its name in May, the company added a fleet of Segway scooters and promised “transit pods” that would move at 40 mph. Axios reports it is also looking at sending restaurant and shopping deals to users through its app and is exploring using a freelance network for food deliveries, similar to Uber’s expansion into food delivery. It remains to be seen how Lime will work with cities as it expands its services. Lime and other dockless companies angered some cities with the clutter created by users leaving bikes and scooters in sidewalks and alleys, causing backlash in the form of tighter regulations and fines (San Francisco and Denver have even been among those removing scooters from the streets). Car2Go has worked with cities to pay parking fees and assuage concerns about the impact on traffic, as it recently did before gaining approval in Chicago. The Spanish scooter company Muving announced last week it would launch in Atlanta with the backing of city officials, even as they write new regulations on dockless companies. Lime, by contrast, launched in some markets without permits, including a belly flop in Honolulu where officials seized scooters just after their launch. The documents obtained by Axios don’t state where Lime is considering launching its new services, but it will likely need to work out a stronger agreement for its cars than it has for bikes and scooters.
Dockless bike and scooter sharing firm Lime is reportedly ready to add two-seater electric vehicles (EVs) to its portfolio, with a view to launching a by-the-hour service similar to Car2Go by May. The company is said to be looking at a number of electric models, such as the Renault Twizy. It's also considering expansion into grocery and food-delivery services.