E-scooter battle: Onzo app shows prices that would undercut Lime in Auckland

Tuesday, 29 January 2019

Onzo, which is known for its e-bikes, will bring its own e-scooters to Auckland this year.

Electric scooter price wars could descend on Auckland after bike sharing app Onzo displayed prices for its yet-to-be-released scooters at cheaper rates than rivals Lime.

Since October, Lime has had the monopoly on shared e-scooters in the super city, with no competitors.

But according to prices displayed on its app on Tuesday, Onzo e-scooters, which could be rolled out this year, would cost 20 cents per minute for users - 10 cents cheaper per minute than Lime.

Onzo's customer service representative Jamie Li said prices were posted on the app in error.

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The Onzo app showed charges for both bikes and scooters on Tuesday.

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'The scooter price is not meant to be there and we're working to get it taken down as soon as we can,' he said.

Li said the release date for Onzo scooters in Auckland was still undecided and he could not confirm if the price listed on the app was correct.

E-scooter company Lime launched in New Zealand in October 2018.

Earlier this month, there were 1000 yellow e-scooters located at Onzo's depot.

At the time, Li said they were not quite what Onzo had hoped for so whether or not those scooters would hit the streets was 'still being discussed'.

'We don't want our customers to get their hopes up.'

A Lime spokesperson said the company would welcome Onzo e-scooters.

'It's great that Auckland is embracing micro-mobile solutions and welcoming more opportunities to reduce its carbon footprint and congestion.'