Ford Expanding Spin E-Scooters Worldwide
Ford is taking its Spin e-scooters global. After acquiring the San Francisco-based company in 2018, the automaker has announced plans to launch the dockless electric scooter service in Cologne, Germany, later this year. After launch, the scooters will expand into more cities throughout the country.
Spin will also look to become a presence in France and the United Kingdom in the months ahead. Spin is applying for an e-scooter share permit that will pave the way for a launch in Paris, and it’s investigating opportunities that will allow it to begin trialing in the U.K.
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On the home front, Spin boasts 20 unique partnerships across the country as well as partnerships with 60 cities and 25 universities. According to company co-founder and president Euwyn Poon, the number of cities Spin operates in increased by 600 percent in 2019 alone. The last-mile solution is part of Ford’s efforts to provide smarter mobility options for commuters in cities where getting around can be a challenge.
“We are thrilled to reach this major milestone for our company,” said Derrick Ko, co-founder and CEO, Spin. “As the company that created the first policy framework for regulating stationless micromobility, we look forward to collaborating with our constituents in Europe to shape the future of this industry. Being part of Ford helps us to offer long-term commitments to our partners as well as infrastructure investments such as Spin Hubs charging stations and multimodal lanes.”
Ford has also enabled Spin to expand its inner workings considerably. At the time of acquisition, Spin boasted just 24 employees; that number is now well over 600. Spin is in the process of hiring corporate and fleet operations positions in Germany.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.