One by one e-bike rental companies and skates are leaving the Greek market in recent years, with the recent case of RideMoviewhich through Free Now app (formerly Beat) There are no more electric bikes in Athens, even temporarily, due to theft and vandalism.

The departure of such services from the Greek market is not something we are seeing for the first time, as businesses such as Lime (electric skates, bike rental companies based in San Francisco and with a presence in European cities) and previously Hive have not flourished. in our country, as in the case of Lime in particular, in addition to the problems caused by measures to restrict movement during the pandemic, there were also problems in its operation.

RideMovi’s decision comes a few months after the official launch of the new Free Now app, which added electric bike commuting options in Athens and Thessaloniki. This is a fleet of about 500-600 bikes per Athena and Thessaloniki, and the Italian company plans to increase it to 1,000 bikes in the coming months. According to Free Now’s sources, the decision is temporary as the company looks into areas where bikes are available and how they are available. It is even estimated that about 40 electric bikes have been “victims” of theft and vandalism in Athens, in contrast to Thessaloniki, where the situation seems to be better, with the result that the service is running normally.

The phenomenon of vandalism and theft is not new, as the police recently dismantled a gang that stole electric skates and accessories in Glyfada, Voula, Vari and Vouliagmeni. In fact, as a result of the preliminary investigation, 21 cases of theft have been identified so far, and the amount of damage exceeds the amount of 17,000 euros.

RideMovi’s decision is related to bike theft and vandalism, mostly in Athens.

Usually criminals “lift” bikes and remove all components, such as, for example, lithium batteries built into electric bikes. Of course, many point out that vandalism and theft are not a Greek phenomenon, given that such services are not particularly competitive in the Greek market. For example, the Mobike company left Manchester in 2018 after 13 months of operation, while cases of theft were also recorded in Edinburgh, Cardiff, etc. Also leaving the French market are companies such as GoBee, based in Hong Kong.

“I have been in Holland for many years and have seen electric skates thrown into the river. The cost of using an electric bike or scooter is high for one route, for example. from Kallimarmaro to Syntagma is the same money as a taxi,” says Mr. Panagiotis Tsouras, transport engineer and user of such services. He supports the lack of infrastructure in Athens due to poor road surfaces, as well as the need for additional investment from companies to protect the fleet from theft. “It is not enough to have a GPS in the car. A central system for full incident logging also needs to be operational so that the company can intervene immediately,” he says.

The use of bicycles and in general the culture of micromobility in Greece is not very common, since, according to the SIM4MTRAN NTUA project, less than 1% of the population of Athens uses a bicycle for distances of 5-10 km from home to work. “There are 3 ways to own micromobility vehicles: simple vehicle purchase, flexible ownership (leasing, subscription) and sharing. It seems that due to costs, shared services in Greece are not working for the local population, but more for visitors and tourists,” says Adam Markakis, managing director of start-up Kineo, a company that leases electric bikes and skates. and in which he invested Autohellas.