Beam v Lime: Electric scooter battle begins

Monday, 24 June 2019

Stuff reporters Lee Kenny and Michael Hayward take out the two e-scooters vying for domination of the streets in Christchurch. (Video first published in June 2019)

This story was published on Monday, June 24 before the e-scooter incident in Auckland.

A new electric scooter firm aims to be cheaper and safer than competitor Lime, but users will have to temper their need for speed.

Singapore-based Beam launched its first 100 purple scooters on Christchurch streets on Monday, with plans to reach the cap of 300 over the coming weeks.

Stuff reporters Lee Kenny, left, and Michael Hayward compare the new Beams with the original Limes.

It ends the monopoly of Californian company Lime, which has been in Christchurch since late 2018 and now has a limit of 1000 scooters.

A third competitor, Wellington-based Flamingo, will introduce another 300 scooters on September 1. The city council has set a limit of 1600 scooters for the city.

Christchurch City councillor Pauline Cotter rides a Beam scooter at the launch in Cathedral Square.

The Beam has a button on the handlebars that slows the scooter down and a footbrake for the rear wheel.

* Two new players bringing 600 extra electric scooters to Christchurch**

Unlike Lime, Beam provides helmets and has set a top speed limit of 16kmh.

Stuff compared both brands' offerings and found they had a similar pick-up, but the Lime's top speed was noticeably higher.

The apps for both were similar, although Beam's app took longer to unlock the scooter and there were a couple of false starts where it would not connect.

Both scooters felt similar to use. Beam has lower handlebars, which may be more comfortable for shorter people.

Beam scooters all come with a helmet. The company says safety is its top priority.

Beam has two braking systems: a foot brake for the back wheel and a button on the handlebar to slow the motor.

The button on its own was a bit underpowered but worked really well in combination with the foot brake. In wet conditions, it would be easy to lock the back wheel up with the foot brake.

Lime has a brake lever on the handlebars, which is more intuitive for people used to bikes. Its attached to an electric front and drum rear brake.

On the safety front, Beam comes with a helmet, although they could be vandalised or stolen as there is nothing securing them to the scooter. Lime encourages riders to wear a helmet but does not provide one.

Price will be important to many. Beam is cheaper, with a $1 unlock fee and operating fees of 30c a minute. Lime is also $1 to unlock but costs 38c a minute.

This is somewhat balanced by the speed difference. For quick trips through town, where pedestrians, traffic and traffic lights limit how fast you can go, Beam may make sense financially. Longer trips through the suburbs may skew towards Lime.

For the first month, Beam will waive the $1 unlock fee for trips that start and finish in the central city.

City councillor Pauline Cotter said e-scooters have had a positive effect on the city and were good for reducing congestion and meeting climate change targets.

The council-imposed cap of 1600 scooters could be movable at some stage, she said.