If you’re already annoyed by the number of scooters on your city’s streets, brace yourself: More Ford scooters are coming.
Ford announced plans on Thursday to launch a new model of its Spin electric scooters nationwide next month. The scooters will “support growth and demand” in both new and existing markets for the company and are designed to be safer and sturdier than their predecessors.
Specifically, the new scooters will have a larger frame, strengthened mechanical structure, and a wider and longer platform to stand on while you’re scooting around town. They’ll also have bigger (10-inch) tubeless tires, which will allow the scooters to give a more stable ride across rough terrain, and a larger-capacity battery capable of powering the scooter for 37.5 miles on a single charge.
The scooters have been in testing in Baltimore, Maryland since June.
“In our testing of the next edition Spin scooter, we have seen a significant increase in utilization and our customers are taking more rides and traveling longer distances,” said Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Zaizhuang Cheng. “We will continue to support the creation of more durable and robust scooters in order to meet the market demand, and provide our riders with a safe, smooth, affordable, and reliable ride.”
The new scooters are expected to start rolling out next month to the street of Portland, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Denver, Washington D.C., Kansas City, Memphis, and Minneapolis, with additional cities in the United States expected to follow.
Ford acquired Spin in November of 2018. At that time the service operated in 13 cities and college campuses in the United States.
Since then, the service has expanded to support 47 cities and college campuses across the U.S. and has increased the size of its fleet by 1,900%.
In May, Ford said it planned to launch the service in 100 cities by the end of the year.
Ford is one of several major companies hoping to capitalize on the newfound obsession with scooters in major cities. Uber is currently testing a $25 subscription plan that will bundle discounted car rides with free Uber Eats delivery and unlimited JUMP bike and scooter rides. Lyft also offers scooters in more than 20 metropolitan areas around the country.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.