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    Okai News - July 2021

    News from Okai

    The temperature is rising, and in many parts of the world, summer break is in full swing. In the meantime, our production keeps running at full capacity, fulfilling the ever-increasing demand for shared scooters, grocery delivery e-bikes, and more. 
    • In fact, our famous ES500 is sold out at our European warehouse. Make sure you place your pre-order for the next batch, arriving in August.
    • Luckily we still have the new ES200 in stock in Berlin. Again, we recommend ordering yours while supplies last.
    • Lastly we are proud to have been chosen by Bird to be the production partner for their first shared e-bike. Looking good!

    Latest Reports

    1. Bird founder and CEO, Travis VanderZanden, says the decision to introduce e-bikes will expand the company’s total addressable market by 5B trips per year.
    2. Last year’s bike boom may have actually been more of a micromobility mania. According to UK retailer Halfords, sales of e-bikes and e-scooters surged 94% in the first 12 months of lockdown, outperforming the cycling category as a whole by nearly 2:1. 
    3. Across the pond in America, electric bikes have grown so popular, one is sold about every 52 seconds these days.  
    4. Shell is set to become the first oil company to provide power to micromobility users, announcing a partnership with Swiftmile to install e-scooter charging docks at its gas stations in Berlin. 
    5. Chinese bike-share unicorn Hello is said to have put its IPO plans on hold for now. 
    6. Big tech’s last-mile fixation keeps on growing. In recent weeks, Amazon announced $170 in new monthly benefits for employees who bike to work; Google added more micromobility rentals to Maps; and Yandex rolled out its own e-scooter service in Moscow. 
    7. Micromobility startup Fenix is launching a delivery service in Abu Dhabi, relying on a combination of dark stores and e-scooters to bring fresh groceries to customers in as little as 10 minutes. 
    8. The hottest new vehicle on the micromobility scene this summer is... the golf cart

    What We're Reading


    If you buy a Tesla and think you’re helping save the environment the moment you roll off the lot, think again. According to a new analysis by Reuters and Argonne, an electric car needs to be driven for an average of 13,500 miles (21,725 km) before it is cleaner than one of its gas-guzzling counterparts. That’s because manufacturing EVs produces more carbon than ICE cars. How quickly an EV reaches its “break-even point” also depends on where it is being driven. In Norway, for instance, which generates almost all of its electricity from renewable hydropower, an electric car is net clean after just 8,400 miles (13,520 km). But in a coal-reliant country like China or Poland, you would have to drive 78,700 miles (126,655 km). 


    Another problem with electric cars, The Verge highlights, is that they are not especially friendly for people with disabilities. First, retrofitting EVs with wheelchair ramps is nearly impossible because the battery is located in the floor of these vehicles. Second, ADA experts say that charging hubs are a nightmare for accessibility, due in part to the heavy weight of the charging cables. The upshot is that EV designers still have a long way to go to put people with disabilities in the driver’s seat. 


    Mayors looking to recruit businesses to set up shop in their city post-pandemic would do better to modernize their transportation systems than hand out tax breaks, according to a new article in CityLab by a former economic developer. By investing in infrastructure to reduce commute times, cities can increase productivity and expand the workforce, fostering economic growth. As one analyst put it, “Bad transportation is a tax on business productivity.”


    Streetsblog covers the surprising turn of events that transformed a sleepy county in suburban Idaho into one of the most progressive cycling havens in the entire United States. “[Last month] Idaho’s Ada County Highway District announced it would no longer build paint-on-the-ground cycling ‘infrastructure’ on arterial roads, prioritizing separated bike lanes or buffered multi-use paths instead. That commitment is unusual for any American transportation agency, but it’s a particularly rare for a large regional agency that oversees roads in six predominantly suburban communities where over 80 percent of commuters drive alone to work (the national average in roughly 76 percent).”


    It turns out Millennials aren’t as opposed to car ownership as once thought. During the pandemic and recovery, transit-wary commuters have been buying up cars at a frantic pace, especially members of the supposedly auto-averse younger generation. According to Bloomberg, “An EY survey of 3,300 consumers in nine countries found that 32% of non-car owners said they intended to get a car in the next six months. About half of those prospective buyers were Millennials.” The question is, did the “share everything” generation abandon their famously pro-transit, eco-friendly principles as they got older, or did our car-centric transportation networks fail them? 

    Words of the Month

    German:lebensfreude 
    To be “happy to be alive” or enjoy life. Also the cheerful enjoyment of life.

    Chinese:jiā yóu 加油
    Literally meaning “add oil” or “add fuel,” this expression is used to cheer someone on. Depending on the context, it means something like “Go!” or “Do your best!” or “Keep going!”
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