43: Shared Mopeds: next generation micromobility with Frank Reig, CEO of Revel

In this episode, Oliver interviews Frank Reig, CEO of Revel, an e-moped sharing system in NYC/DC that has just announced a $27.6m raise to expand to 10 new cities. It’s a fascinating interview as shared e-mopeds have a number of key operational improvements over the more popular kick scooter/electric bike shared systems that we’ve seen. Specifically we discuss: - Their recent raise and plans for the next 12-18 months. - Their origin story from Frank’s experiences in Argentina and his background in the electric vehicle space - The financial, infrastructural and operational advantages of using e-mopeds over normal kick scooters, and how that drives them to consider themselves more like a parallel to the carshare industry than the kick scooter industry. - Their fleets in NYC and DC, and the experiences they’ve had working with regulators in both. - How they deal with parking, and why they believe that is part of Revel’s ‘special sauce’. - A deeper dive on both their vehicle longevity and their swappable battery advantages. - Why they’re able to finance all their vehicle, and how that improves the capital efficiency of the operations. - How they think about competition, especially from larger players. - How their full time labor model changes regulatory conversations with cities. - How their vehicle type lends itself to longer trips, and the role that they play as a transport option in a suburb with relatively low connectivity options. - How they’re able to end up being a cheaper operator than both Bird and Lime in some markets. - How they were able to learn from Scoot and it’s lessons from San Francisco - Reflections on their safety and insurance practices - Other form factors that would make sense for them to expand into in the future Thanks to this week’s sponsor Particle. Particle provides an end-to-end IoT platform, from device management to connectivity to hardware for connecting micromobility vehicles to networks and reducing complexity as operations scale. For operators that I’ve talked to, they’re a godsend in the world of highly complex and competitive operations. Visit Particle.io/micromobility to learn more and request a free IoT development kit. All podcast listeners will also receive a free consultation. Visit Particle.io/micromobility today.