Uber, the popular ride-hailing app company, has now set its sights on European electric bicycle riders.
The company announced earlier today that their electric bicycle rental service Jump will be debuting in Berlin later this summer. Afterwards, Uber plans to continue their rental e-bike rollout across other European cities.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expanded upon the company’s European ambitions:
Uber stands ready to help address some of the biggest challenges facing German cities: tackling air pollution, reducing congestion and increasing access to cleaner transportation solutions.
Uber acquired Jump two months ago in a $100M deal. The service has already proven to be popular in US cities such as San Francisco and Washington.
The dockless electric bicycles can be rented easily via an app and ridden anywhere in the service area around the city for just $2 for a 30 minute ride – much cheaper than a taxi.
When the rider is finished, he or she simply parks the bicycle anywhere and leaves it for the next user, no dock necessary.
Berlin is an interesting choice for Uber, as it’s signature ride-hailing service received only lukewarm reviews in the city before being shutdown due to legal reasons.
Additionally, there are already a number of other foreign-owned bicycle share programs operating in the city, including Singapore-based OBike, Chinese Mobike, and American Limebike. Berlin even touts a partnership with Taiwan-based Gogoro scooters to rent out electric mopeds via a service known as Coup.
If Uber is successful with Jump in Berlin, it could be just the opening wave in a larger European invasion of international electric bicycle and scooter rental companies.