Dive Brief:
- Mobility startup Lime has applied to add two-seater cars to its fleet of shared vehicles in Seattle, as first reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal. A spokesman for Lime told the paper "you can expect electric vehicles to be an additional micro-mobility option for Lime riders to choose from within the Lime app soon."
- An application for car-sharing was filed with the Seattle Department of Transportation, and follows a report from Axios that the company was planning to expand into cars and delivery services.
- Lime has also hired David Richter to be its first chief business officer and interim chief financial officer. Richter was formerly the global head of business and corporate development for Uber.
Dive Insight:
Details about the car-sharing service have not been made public, although Axios reported that a fundraising presentation said the cars would charge $1 to start with an additional 40 cents per minute for the trip. The service would be in competition with Car2Go and ReachNow in Seattle.
Lime has made clear it plans to go beyond its dockless bike roots. Since changing its name from “LimeBike” to just “Lime,” the company expanded into scooter sharing and promised that small, electric “transit pods” would be its next step. The two-person cars will offer another small mobility option for Seattle residents (rental electric scooters are not permitted in Seattle, but the company has been a major player in the city’s bike-share scene). TechCrunch reported that Lime is even exploring opening a "lifestyle brand store" in Santa Monica, CA.
Lime’s expansion mirrors moves made by other mobility companies to cover a full fleet of options. Lyft and Uber have both acquired bike companies and have launched scooter fleets in select cities. As consumers have grown more comfortable with a variety of transportation options based on trip needs, companies are trying to become the one-stop-shop for any trip. Car-sharing gives Lime another option to compete with Lyft and Uber’s hailed rides, but balancing the options amid fierce competition could be a challenge.
