Transportation startup Lime is shutting down LimePod, its car-sharing service that it launched final November in Seattle. Lime plans to start out eradicating its autos from the streets of Seattle subsequent month and can fully shut down the service by the tip of the 12 months. The information was first reported by GeekWire.
Lime has operated a pilot program in Seattle since final 12 months and is ready to conclude on the finish of the 12 months. Throughout this system, greater than 18,000 folks took greater than 200,000 journeys in LimePods, in response to a Lime spokesperson. At launch, the plan was to discover carsharing for brief distances and finally change its autos with an all-electric fleet. Lime, nonetheless, shouldn’t be trying to make LimePods a everlasting fixture of the town at this level.
“While the program was a great learning experience, at our core, we are an electric mobility company first,” Lime wrote in an electronic mail to LimePod customers. “We are committed — like Seattle is — to sustainability, lower carbon emissions, and to make cities more livable, all of which require reduced car travel.”
Additionally, Lime stated it was not capable of finding the correct associate for its LimePod’s electrical fleet, which led to the choice to finish this system on the finish of the pilot interval.
“We deeply appreciate our partnership with the Seattle community and the opportunity to collaborate on our LimePod Pilot Program,” a Lime spokesperson advised TechCrunch. “The experience is a testament to the city’s forward-looking position on the future of transportation and the necessity of sustainable options for citizens. We are similarly committed to that goal and the information gained during our pilot will support the work necessary should we decide to expand and improve this service with an all-electric fleet in the future.”
Lime, which received its beginnings as a bike-share firm, has deployed its scooters and bikes in additional than 100 cities within the U.S. and greater than 20 worldwide cities. Recently, Lime hit 100 million rides throughout its micromobility autos. Clearly, Lime sees extra a future with shared bikes and scooters than it does with vehicles.
Earlier this 12 months, Lime raised a $310 million Series D spherical led by Bain Capital Ventures and others. That spherical valued the startup at $2.four billion.
