How to find profitability in the e-scooter sharing industry – a conversation with Bullride
September 8, 2022
min. read
When it comes to the future of e-scooter sharing, there are some pretty conflicting opinions out there. Some say it's the future of micromobility, others are less optimistic.
Ultimately, the success of scooter operators all depends on their ability to find profitability.
Let's be honest – this industry has higher-than-average overhead costs. The hardware itself is a major investment, and profits are further seeped by the maintenance workforce, storage, relocation costs, and new regulatory requirements that are regularly introduced.
But profitability is possible.
We spoke to Heiko Hildebrandt, co-founder of Bullride, which helps mobility companies offload their assets from their balance sheet to keep them in the black.
The state of the scooter industry – hopeful
The economy is just starting to stabilize as we exit the Covid slump and enter the new normal. How did Covid affect the micromobility sphere?
A study published in Bloomberg found that monthly ridership fell drastically in 2021, but made a comeback in 2022 when people returned to office.
Source: Bloomberg
Now, that's using US-based brands as a model.
Heiko Hildebrandt shares that the scooter operators he's worked with have experienced a similar effect:
“Corona was the greatest fuel you could pour onto the micromobility fire. During Corona times, people hardly used public transport, and most people switched to scooters. We saw two of the biggest micromobility brands in Europe, Bolt and Tier, raise record-setting VC investment at the end of 2021 – totaling 1.4B EUR – a clear sign of traction. And since Covid has ended, we've seen a 30%-40% slump in demand. So was Covid bad for business? Not according to my perspective.”
However, according to Heiko, the real challenge is to make the unit economics work. Because the question is not about whether the product is in demand. The question is does it make sense from a business perspective.
The challenges the scooter industry faces
The scooter industry, while in demand, must face challenges that directly impact their unit economics. For some businesses, it pushes them over the edge and drives them into insolvency.
By knowing what those challenges are, scooter businesses can better set up their business models to protect their profitability.
Rising hardware costs
In order for a scooter's lifetime to be profitable, it has to be in use for at least 2 seasons – some even say, for 4 years. That means that the scooter has to be durable, easily maintained, with cost-efficient replacement parts.
“Scooters are usually imported from abroad (mostly China), and shipping costs are now 8x higher than they were two years ago. The costs of electronics components are ever increasing.”
Jürgen Sahtel, Manager of the ATOM Vehicle Marketplace, agrees that the prices have gone up over the past two years.
“For example, hardware prices for the new Segway models have increased more than 40% over the last 16 months. And this trend is across all manufacturers – new scooters could be obtained starting from 650EUR and up, while more advanced models readily available in EU are priced at around 1000EUR per unit.”
The hardware is one of the biggest up-front investments that a scooter operator faces. But it's also critical to balance cost with quality, as you need to be so resilient that it can withstand public use over the course of 2-4 years.
Expanding regulation
When the e-scooter sharing industry took off, the industry was so fresh that there wasn't any regulation in place to keep it in check. It was the wild west, and operators were able to take advantage of the regulatory grey area.
Now, municipalities are starting to crack down on the industry and putting laws into place. Regulation, overall, is a good thing. However, the way it's done now shows a lack of understanding about the unit economics and its regulation that is being enacted.
“Most municipalities are limiting the size of a fleet that one scooter competitor can have. Their goal is to reduce the amount of scooter clutter on the streets. But that number is often too low to ensure what we call “natural floating” – the process of humans moving the scooters around the city. This puts a larger strain on relocation and charging teams.”
Other burdens placed on scooter brands is the stricter demarcation of allowable parking zones. This is a factor that impacts relocation teams – those responsible for bringing scooters from less popular zones back to city centers and transport hubs. Additionally, mandatory tenders with the municipality are usually offered only for one year, making planning rather difficult.
A new trend that Heiko mentions seeing from a regulatory perspective is the emergence of mandatory insurance.
“Scooters used to be classified as bikes, and thus, similarly regulated. Now, they're being reclassified as motored vehicles, which have different regulatory requirements, including mandatory insurance.”
This further skews the unit economics of each ride.
On the other hand, regulation can also play an enabling factor. Heiko shares that if tenders could be extended for, say, 3 years, it could provide scooter brands with planning stability. If municipalities limited only 2 competitors in a city, this would ensure enough demand to make the unit economics work.
Finding profitability in unlikely places – Bullride's unique business model
Heiko believes that the future lies in the shared economy. He's among the 4 co-founders of Bullride, an investment platform that shoulders the burden of the hardware investment and splits the scooter rent with the operating brand.
How does it work?
- The Bullride platform crowdfunds the costs of the initial scooter investment. These people become your investors. Instead of giving away equity (ownership) of your company, they end up “owning” one of your scooters (1 scooter = 1,000 EUR).
- The order is made into one of the top scooter manufacturers that have the best longevity – Bullride does this for you.
- You split the rental income – 55% for you, 30% for investors, 15% for Bullride.
The idea works for a number of reasons.
- You'll need money. A bank is unlikely to fund a scooter venture (because of historically low profitability), and a VC will ask for equity. This way, you get the investment, while retaining full control.
- Bullride has very specific requirements. They know what works, and what doesn't. They only work together with entrepreneurs that meet their very strict requirements. That includes entering a city that has no more than 2 competitors, and a city that has no more than 100,000 inhabitants. 30,000 is the ideal sweetspot. You also only have one employee – and that's you.
The operating brand then may use a leading vehicle-sharing platform ATOM Mobility, to fast-track their time to market. ATOM takes profitability even further with its unique pricing model. Instead of the common model of cost-per-vehicle, ATOM uses a cost-per-ride model. That means that if you have less demand (and as a result, less income) in a certain month, then you pay less for use of the ATOM platform.
But scooter sharing is just the beginning. This same model, Heiko believes, can be applied to e-bikes, e-scooters, carsharing, even wind turbines and major investments like that. Why shouldn't a community be able to jointly invest in and co-own the infrastructure that they need to live?
This is a unique model that hasn't been commonly seen elsewhere. It's more than just scooters – Bullride believes that at the heart of it, what they're doing is democratizing asset ownership.
If you're looking to launch or scale your own vehicle-sharing business, contact the ATOM Mobility team to learn more abut this opportunity.
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ATOM Mobility API: Build your own mobility experience on top of a proven platform
⚡ Launch faster and integrate anywhere with ATOM Mobility API. Build your own mobility experience without rebuilding the backend. Learn how ATOM Mobility API lets you integrate, customize, and scale faster.
April 2, 2026
min. read
Shared mobility is moving beyond standalone apps. Operators today are expected to integrate into existing ecosystems - from hotel and airport platforms to corporate travel tools and MaaS apps. Building all of that from scratch is slow, expensive, and hard to scale.
That’s why ATOM Mobility offers a fully developed OpenAPI - allowing you to build your own mobility experience on top of a proven backend.
From app to platform
Most mobility solutions are still built as closed systems. That creates friction: integrations take time, custom features require heavy development, and expanding into new channels becomes complicated.
An API-first approach changes this.
Instead of rebuilding core functionality, operators can use ATOM Mobility as the underlying system and build their own layer on top. Booking flows, payments, vehicle control, and operational logic are already there - accessible via API.
What this enables in practice
With API access, mobility can be embedded directly where users already are.
- A ride can be booked from a hotel website. A car can be unlocked through a partner app. A custom frontend can be built for a specific market without touching the backend.
- At the same time, operators can connect their own tools: from internal dashboards to finance and reporting systems (for example, Power BI) creating a more automated and scalable operation.
The result is not just a mobility app, but a flexible system that can adapt to different markets, partners, and use cases.
What you can manage with ATOM Mobility API
🚗 Booking & ride management - search vehicles, reserve and unlock, start and end trips, manage ride status.
💳 Payments & users - create and manage users, handle payments and pricing, access booking history.
🛴 Fleet & operations - vehicle status and location, zones and restrictions, pricing configuration.
🔌 Integrations - connect third-party apps, sync with external systems, automate workflows and more...
Few use cases we already see
1. Embedded mobility in partner platforms
Booking directly from (no app download needed):
- hotel websites
- airport kiosks
- corporate travel portals
- MAAS apps (such as Umob)
2. Custom frontends and apps
Operators build:
- branded web apps
- niche UX flows
- country-specific experiences
All powered by ATOM Mobility backend.
3. IoT and hardware integrations
- sync vehicle data
- control locking/unlocking
4. Automation & internal tools
- reporting dashboards
- finance automation
- customer communication flows
Instead of spending months building core systems, operators can use ATOM API and focus on what actually drives growth - distribution and partnerships.
Interested to learn more or try it out?
Learn more:
https://www.atommobility.com/api
Explore the API:
https://app.rideatom.com/api/docs
Blog
How to fully automate maintenance tasks and alerts for rental fleets
🚗 Scaling a rental fleet without automating maintenance? That’s risky. Spreadsheets and routine checks might work at 20 vehicles, but once you grow past 50, things start slipping. More operators are using IoT telematics, automatic error codes, and mileage-based service alerts to catch issues early and keep vehicles available. See how rental fleet maintenance automation helps you scale without chaos.
March 31, 2026
min. read
How to automate maintenance alerts for rental fleets
Rental fleet maintenance automation is becoming essential for operators who want to scale without increasing operational complexity. Whether you manage cars, scooters, bikes, or mixed fleets, manual inspections and spreadsheets quickly fail once your fleet grows beyond a few dozen vehicles.
Breakdowns, missed services, and delayed repairs directly affect uptime, revenue, and customer satisfaction. Modern fleet technology makes it possible to automate maintenance using IoT telematics, onboard sensors, automatic error codes, mileage-based triggers, and structured dashboards.
Why manual maintenance tracking does not scale
In small fleets, maintenance is reactive. A customer reports an issue. A staff member checks the vehicle. Someone creates a task manually. This works for 20 vehicles, but for 200 it’s just too much work.
As fleets expand, issues are discovered too late, standards vary between locations, and staff spend more time coordinating than fixing. Rental fleet maintenance automation shifts operations from reactive repairs to preventive, system-driven workflows.
Using IoT telematics to monitor vehicles in real time
IoT telematics devices collect live data such as location, battery level, ignition status, engine health, and mileage. In car rental and car sharing fleets, telematics also track fuel levels, driving behaviour, and diagnostic information.
Instead of waiting for user reports, the system can trigger alerts automatically. For example:
- when a battery drops below 20 percent
- when a vehicle reaches a service mileage threshold
- when a vehicle leaves a defined service area
- when the vehicle receives a few negative reviews
This data feeds directly into the fleet platform, where workflows assign tasks automatically, reducing response times and eliminating internal coordination delays.
Onboard sensors and automatic error codes
Modern vehicles generate diagnostic trouble codes when systems fail. In connected fleets, these codes appear instantly in the operator dashboard.
If a vehicle reports a brake or engine warning, the system can block it from new bookings, notify technicians, and create a repair task automatically. In micromobility fleets, IoT modules detect tilt events, battery degradation, failed unlock attempts, or controller errors.
Digital reporting further improves vehicle availability. ATOM Mobility’s vehicle damage management feature shows how structured workflows reduce downtime and improve transparency.
Mileage-based and time-based service automation
Rule-based servicing is one of the most effective elements of rental fleet maintenance automation.
Operators can set simple service rules, such as:
- changing oil every 15,000 km
- checking brakes every 20,000 km
- running a safety check every six months
When a vehicle reaches one of these limits, the system creates a task automatically. The vehicle can also be temporarily removed from booking until the service is done. This becomes especially important when operating in multiple cities, because it keeps safety standards consistent across the entire fleet.
Maintenance dashboards and task automation
A maintenance dashboard centralises alerts, open issues, and upcoming service requirements.
With structured task management, teams can assign jobs, set priorities, track resolution times, and analyse recurring issues. ATOM Mobility’s Task Manager feature enables operators to convert alerts directly into trackable actions within one system. Alerts that turn into tasks automatically make it clear what needs fixing and when it should be handled.
From reactive to predictive maintenance
With enough historical data, fleets can move beyond fixed intervals. Operators can identify patterns such as faster brake wear in specific models or higher damage rates in certain areas. Predictive maintenance allows servicing based on actual usage intensity, reducing unnecessary costs while preventing major failures.
For operators growing from 50 to 500 vehicles, automation delivers clear advantages:
- higher uptime, because issues are detected earlier
- lower operational costs, since preventive repairs are cheaper than breakdowns
- improved safety and compliance, with no missed service intervals
- better customer experience, with fewer malfunctioning vehicles
- clearer performance metrics for management decisions
Automation supports maintenance teams with clearer priorities and better data.
Building the right automation stack
Effective rental fleet maintenance automation typically requires:
- IoT hardware
- a fleet management platform with automated alerts
- configurable service rules
- a task dashboard
- task automation logic
- analytics tools
When these components are connected, maintenance becomes scalable and controlled instead of reactive. This is especially important for operators running scooter, bike, car sharing, or rental businesses, where uptime directly impacts revenue and retention.
Rental fleet maintenance automation makes maintenance more organised and easier to manage as you grow. IoT telematics, automatic diagnostics, mileage alerts, and task dashboards help create clear processes that support expansion.
For rental and shared mobility operators who want to grow steadily, automating maintenance is essential. It helps keep operations stable and supports long-term profitability.
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