Scheme to rate safety and sustainability of e-scooters

08.41 | 11 August 2022 |

Work is underway to develop a new safety rating system for e-scooters, e-bikes and other forms of micromobility.

The standard is expected to work in a similar way to the Euro NCAP scheme for cars, but have a wider scope.

As well as safety, it will evaluate and rate machines based on sustainability and social responsibility.

The standard is being created by the MicroMobility Assessment Partnership (MMAP), formed earlier this year, whose partners include the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL).

It is expected to launch later this year, initially targeted at privately owned and rental e-scooters.

However, there will be scope to expand to other micromobility products and services such as e-bikes.

Richard Cuerden, TRL Academy director, told Move Electric the scheme hopes to “bring the right people together” to make sure safety, sustainability and social responsibility are prioritised by retailers and operators.

He said: “The idea is to develop a scheme so that when a local authority is looking at a micro-mobility scheme, they can quickly and easily know which operators provide models that are safe, genuinely sustainable and affordable, which is important for people in lower social demographics.”

“We want to remove the conflicts you can often have between the regulator and somebody who wants to sell a vehicle. The aim is to bring the right people together to make sure those criteria are clear for machines to be designed and built.

“That means if you’re selling a scooter to private users, or you want to operate a hire or ride-sharing scheme, you can be judged and seen to be working to the best standards. It means people can now be part of the conversation as to what becomes the best standards.”

Euro NCAP publishes safety reports on new cars, and awards ‘star ratings’ based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests, including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians.


 

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