Jump Mobility is the new trend in bike-sharing in the US. With its e-bikes, the brand from Social Bicycles uses the same technology as its many schemes in the US, UK, Czech Republic and Poland, a dockless geo-fenced system.

If the idea is good, it raises a main problematic compared to similar systems with mechanical bikes: the battery charging. Evaluating the duration, frequency of charging is the main question to be answer in order to define the good density of bikes, and size/organisation of the maintenance crew. Hey Jump Mobility 🙂 , do you maintenance the bikes for charging or swap batteries? What is the range of the battery? It is usually the basic data that are communicated to the public for e-bikes, and a huge sell argument. Let’s hope for an answer!

Esthetically, the bike looks great: bright red, shining bar-end brake levers, assorted huge basket. Technically, it integrates a front wheel engine, and a battery in the diagonal tube of the frame. No data available regarding these motorisation parts. Singular choice comparing to its low cost non-assisted concurrents, bikes are equipped with a belt drive and tube-type Schwalbe Marathon+ tires.

Jump can clearly not get the strategy of flooding a city with thousands of bikes, regarding the price of the bikes. The price of the bike might be around 10 times higher than a Mobike for example, and a 30min ride cost 2$, compared to 0.5$ for Lime, Spin, Ofo… As Jump bikes does not wear advertising so far, I wonder how the system can be profitable.

Jump Mobility claim to have launched the first ever dockless e-bike share scheme in the world, with Jump DC, in Washington DC, which started last september with 50 bikes in the streets and will double in November 2017 to 100 bikes. That’s the theory, as I could only saw 4 bikes in the app when I checked (any explanation?)…

Jump also tried to enter San Francisco‘s streets, with another 100 bikes pilot scheme started in june 2017. But its permit request for 1000 bikes in contested by Ford GoBike (PBSC station-based program operated by Motivate), who signed an exclusivity agreement with SF. A long juridical battle may start, with a dispute resolution process already ongoing.

We will see next year if these two pilot schemes validate the model of high-end ebike-sharing!