Published

Lime Ends Car-Sharing Program

Neutron Holdings Inc. is pulling the plug on its LimePod car-sharing service, which it launched last November in Seattle.
#hybrid

Share

Neutron Holdings Inc. is pulling the plug on its LimePod car-sharing service, which it launched last November in Seattle.

The company, best known for its bright green Lime rental bicycles and scooters, says it wasn’t able to find an electric vehicle partner for the car-sharing program. High operating costs and tight margins also contributed to the decision, according to media reports.

Lime started the Seattle service with a fleet of Fiat 500 minicars, with plans to eventually convert to an all-electric network. Users could book, access and pay for the cars via a smartphone app, paying $1 to unlock the car and 40 cents per minute to use it. Vehicles could be picked up and dropped off at any legal parking spot in the city.

Lime says some 18,000 subscribers have taken more than 200,000 trips in the first 10 months of the program. The company will begin removing the vehicles from the city next month and end the program altogether by year-end.

Lime has deployed its scooters and bikes in more than 100 cities in the U.S. and 20 international cities. The startup, which was valued at $2.4 billion earlier this year, recently topped 100 million rides worldwide.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Choosing the Right Fasteners for Automotive

    PennEngineering makes hundreds of different fasteners for the automotive industry with standard and custom products as well as automated assembly solutions. Discover how they’re used and how to select the right one. (Sponsored Content)

  • Jeeps Modified for Moab

    On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.

  • Engineering the 2019 Jeep Cherokee

    The Jeep Cherokee, which was launched in its current manifestation as a model year 2014 vehicle, and which has just undergone a major refresh for MY 2019, is nothing if not a solid success.

Gardner Business Media - Strategic Business Solutions