Smarter Cars

In this episode, we’re talking with Maxim Romain, co-founder and COO of Dott, a French micromobility company operating shared kick scooters and now e-bikes in Europe. We discuss Dott’s approach to sustainability and cities, its scooter operations, swappable batteries, parking compliance and other technology solutions, the regulatory environment in Europe and its plans to roll out new e-bikes. You can learn more about Dott here: https://ridedott.com

Today we're talking with Peter Deppe, CEO/co-founder of Kuhmute, a company that provides universal charging docks for micromobility devices. We discuss how Kuhmute docks work with all form factors from e-bikes to wheelchairs with variable charging and an adapter, the process for installing and powering docks, how Kuhmute works with cities and private companies to provide infrastructure, and the pros and cons of swappable batteries and docking stations. You can learn more about Kuhmute here: https://www.kuhmute.com

Today we’re talking with Fred Jones of Tier - a German company that has become one of the biggest micromobility players in Europe. Tier operates shared fleets of electric scooters and is rolling out electric bikes and mopeds as well. We discuss Tier’s strategy and operations in Europe, its new battery swapping energy network with stations it intends to roll out in shops and other locations in cities, scooter safety and design, and Tier’s use of technology to enforce proper parking compliance. You can learn more about Tier here: https://www.tier.app

Today we're talking with Jameson Detweiler, President/Co-Founder of Fantasmo, a company that makes HD maps and provides hyper-accurate positioning services for micromobility companies. We discuss the challenges of GPS and geolocating vehicles in cities, the benefits of camera-based positioning systems, Fantasmo's current service offering for verifying parking compliance for scooters and bikes, and its planned services involving sidewalk and lane detection and related positioning use cases. You can find more at https://www.fantasmo.io

Today we're talking with Ghassan Haddad, Lime's Head of Public Policy and Communications for Europe, Middle East and Africa. We discuss Lime's operations in European cities, policy differences between European and US cities, Lime's expansion into new form factors including the addition of Jump bikes and now e-mopeds, safety and durability improvements in kick scooters and what the next year or so may look like for scooters in Europe. 

Today we're talking with Shabazz Stuart, founder/CEO of Oonee, which makes secure parking structures for bikes and scooters in cities. You can see what Oonee looks like at https://www.ooneepod.com. We discuss how Oonee pods and kiosks can serve both owned and shared micromobility for many different use cases. We also cover the broader questions around the shared infrastructure needed to make micromobility work at scale in cities and how cities can work with private mobility companies to facilitate building and monetizing this infrastructure.

Today we're talking with Alex Nesic, co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Drover. Drover provides an advanced IoT module for micromobility vehicles that is capable of granular infrastructure distinction in real time without the need for ground truth information or precise GPS. Drover helps shared fleet providers improve operational efficiency, regulatory compliance and safety. Drover's product can identify sidewalks, streets, and bike lanes and provide geofencing even in GPS-challenged areas along with an array of vehicle control or user notification capabilities. You can find more about Drover here: https://www.drover.ai

We interview Carl Vernersson, Chief Commercial Officer of Voi, a micromobility company based in Sweden. We discuss Voi's latest scooter and technology, including turn signals, sidewalk detection, and swappable batteries. We also discuss the operational and regulatory challenges in European markets, safety considerations for scooters and Voi's expansion into new cities.

In this episode, we talk with Felix Petersen, Head of Europe for Spin, about Spin's expansion into Europe, the approach to regulation in different European countries, the operational and infrastructure challenges and opportunities in Europe, and the future of various form factors for micromobility. 

In this Season 5 finale, we're talking with Sam Kansara, a senior product manager at Waymo who is scaling the Waymo One driverless ride service and Waymo Via for trucking and local delivery. Waymo has been the leader in developing autonomous driving technology and the first ride service to remove the safety driver for a portion of the rides it offers in the Phoenix area. We discuss Waymo’s ride service, how Waymo thinks about safety and deployment, Waymo’s Via delivery service and the user experience and expectations around offering fully driverless rides.