What will become of self-service scooters, which have become undesirable in Paris?


At the instigation of the municipality, the inhabitants of Paris have decided to no longer authorize self-service electric scooters in the city. What will become of the machines?

15,000: the number of self-service electric scooters operated by Lime, Dott and Tier in Paris. The machines, available in the capital since 2018, will however soon no longer be allowed to drive in the streets of the capital. Paris organized a referendum at the beginning of April 2023 to determine the future of self-service scooters, the result of which was overwhelmingly against them. 89.03% of voters were for their ban.

Self-service electric scooters will no longer be available on September 1, 2023, the date of the end of their contract with the city of Paris. The 15,000 machines of the three operators will find themselves without roads, overnight. Lime and Dott have already predicted what will happen to their scooters, however, and both companies confirm that they will not be destroyed. Tier, who we also interviewed, had not yet answered our questions at the time of this article’s publication.

Lime scooters in their warehouse // Source: Aurore Gayte for Numerama

Lime’s scooters will be sent to other European cities

During a press conference organized by the operator on April 19, 2023, Lime wanted to reassure about its future, but also that of its 5,000 Parisian scooters. ” From September 1, e-scooters will be removed from public roads and the fleet will be reallocated in the many European cities where Lime operates “. Hadi Karam, the general manager of Lime France, promises that there will be ” no losses on gear.

Lime being present in many cities in Europe, it is not possible to make an exhaustive list. However, you can find the full list on their website.

There are therefore no specific destinations yet for ex-Parisian scooters. However, it is likely that they will not all go to the same city, given their large number. A part should still end up in Belgium, Lime told Numerama, because the country is more flexible in terms of regulation on the number of scooters authorized. Antwerp and Brussels may welcome the old Parisian scooters.

The decision to send the devices to Europe and not to France may seem surprising. Indeed, Lime is also active in Marseille and Le Havre, where self-service scooters are installed. However, these cities cannot receive new machines for the moment: the number of self-service devices being negotiated with the localities, it is not possible to increase it with the arrival of old Parisian scooters.

A Lime scooter // Source: Lime
A Lime scooter // Source: Lime

What will become of Dott’s scooters?

For Dott, which also operates 5,000 scooters in Paris, some transfers will take place in France, the company confirmed to Numerema on May 23, 2023. We will assign them in priority to Bordeaux, where we won a call for tenders “says the company. However, they will not go to Lyon, where Dott has already been established since 2020 and already operates 2,000 scooters. Indeed, the company has launched a project to recondition its machines, and plans to keep them running for a few more years before changing the fleet. No need for new scooters.

In addition to Bordeaux, they will also meet in Tel Aviv, where Dott has also just won a call for tenders, and which will make it possible to increase the current fleet, as well as in Brussels. The operator is also awaiting news from Rome. The Italian capital has also left a call for tenders to electric scooter operators, in which Dott participated. The old Parisian scooters may soon be roaming the streets of Rome.

Dott's Parisian scooters will be found in other cities in Europe // Source: Dott
Dott’s Parisian scooters will be found in other cities in Europe // Source: Dott

How will the withdrawal go?

For now, the scooters are still available in Paris, and they will remain so until August 31, 2023, when their contract with the capital ends. Hadi Karam clarified that the removal of Lime devices would take place in a manner “ progressive during the month of August. Their number will gradually decrease. As of September 1, there will be none left.

Same thing with Dott. ” We are still working on a specific plan, but it will take us almost a month to remove the fleet “says the company. ” We will start removing them around July 25th. We’ll see how it goes, but normally, from August 25, there won’t be much left. Everything is done so that there is nothing left on August 31 “. The company will set up promotions to switch its users from scooters to its self-service electric bikes. In the meantime, you can still enjoy Parisian scooters for a while — but not for long.


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