GOVECS: Pioneering the Future of Urban Mobility with Electric Scooters

On the moves

In response to perpetually rising petrol prices, global warming, traffic volumes in inner cities and the high demand for individual mobility, GOVECS has designed and developed innovative electronic scooters that close the mobility gap

With 60 per cent of the world’s population living in urban areas by 2030, clean and efficient transport solutions are becoming an increasingly in demand necessity. As mobility continues to undergo this major change, Munich headquartered GOVECS believes a new way of thinking is required and innovative mobility concepts are the way forward to ensure clean inner cities and a healthier urban life.

“Established in Munich in 2009 by Thomas Grubel and myself, Nicholas Holdcraft, GOVECS is today one of the market leaders of the electric scooter sector. Since our foundation, the European-driven design and development department of GOVECS has released seven vehicle models in two series and different performance and weight classes. Today you can find GOVECS models throughout Europe and the US,” says Nicholas Holdcraft, President and Chief Operating Officer. “We have an assembly facility located in Wroclaw, Poland, and currently have more than 100 people in multiple countries working for us. We deliver more than 3000 units per year around the world and have a year-to-year growth rate of more than 200 per cent.”

Looking at the key areas of growth for GOVECS, Nicholas continues: “The main markets for GOVECS scooters are in Spain, France and Germany. This is due to the rapid growth of sharing programmes in those local regions, which are expanding year-by-year more than 300 per cent. In addition to those major markets, GOVECS products have been shipped to every country in the EU; we have also seen significant fleet sales in California over recent years.

“Prior to becoming the sharing scooter leader in Europe, GOVECS had proven success selling vehicles to delivery fleets such as Dominos and other big box franchise partners. GOVECS also offers a delivery renting package, which allows smaller restaurants to not have to invest capital into their delivery fleet. For one flat daily fee, GOVECS can provide a non-branded transportation scooter that is fully functional and ‘ready to deliver’ for pre-approved customers. This full-service option is a first in the delivery transportation market and has allowed GOVECS to grow exponentially.”

Indeed, thanks to their ability to glide through the city, passing cars that are caught up in congested traffic, GOVECS’ scooters are already used by sharing and rental agencies, as well as delivery service companies that understand the benefits of using this reliable and high performance solution. Discussing the sharing service, Nicholas notes: “Sharing solutions are the ultimate urban mobility option for end customers needing to go from points A to B in the most frictionless and cheapest way possible. More cost-effective than a taxi and faster than an Uber, a customer can simply walk up to a scooter, then book and unlock the vehicle by a smartphone app. The customer can then drive to their destination and close the booking, leaving the vehicle at that location so they can go on with their day.

“This way of delivering the service means there is no more looking for specific car park locations, like in bike sharing, or sitting in long traffic jams as you would in a taxi or personal car. In addition to the convenience and low cost, it is also loads of fun in the summer months and a great way to cruise Europe’s hottest cities,” he highlights.

Suited to close the mobility gap thanks to their wide-reaching batteries and ability to deliver ease when it comes to personal mobility in urban locations, GOVECS’ electric scooters are developed at its state-of-the-art production facility in Wroclaw, Poland, with urgently needed, future-orientated mobility solutions in mind. One example of this is the company’s development of its new scooter brand, Schwalbe, which was created in partnership with Bosch. A clean and quiet form of urban transportation, the e-scooter can provide a range of more than 100 kilometres when fully charged and boasts an electric drivetrain that is not only extremely dynamic, but also delivers impressive acceleration.

“We are launching Schwalbe in the summer of 2017,” says Nicholas. “It is a retro scooter that we have developed from scratch over the last 18 months. The GOVECS engineers and product developers have collected all of our knowledge and lessons learned from the already successful GOVECS line and used that to build the dream scooter. The product is currently sold out until November 2017 so the production team has the awesome challenge of ramping up the supply network to meet the growing demand of this product. As we bring this new assembly line up to speed, the GOVECS team in parallel is also in the process of developing some leading-edge upgrades to our current product line. For the 2018 model they will have a completely re-designed drive system as well as new options and reliability improvements. This will take the focus of the entire organisation over the next 12 months.”

Having invested in product development and engineering over recent years, including testing batteries in fully submerged water for extended periods of time to check they will still function safely, the company is confident that GOVECS products are built to last. With the new Schwalbe product being a core focus for the company over the next 12 months, demand looks set to continue for GOVECS as it seeks to retain its foothold as the market leader in the sharing and transportation twowheel sector.

GOVECS
Products: Electric scooters