Nigerian start-up rolls out e-scooters to boost electric mobility

Record ID: 1684602

  • Title: Nigerian start-up rolls out e-scooters to boost electric mobility
  • Date: 12th August 2022
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (AUGUST 4, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STUDENT NANCY ENUMAH RUNNING OUT OF HER UNIVERSITY HOSTEL VARIOUS OF ENUMAH USING HER PHONE TO SCAN ON A TREKK SCOOTER ENUMAH RIDING OFF VARIOUS OF DRONE AND CAMERA SHOTS OF ENUMAH RIDING A SCOOTER TO HER DEPARTMENT VARIOUS OF ENUMAH ARRIVING AND PARKING AND WALKING INTO HER DEPARTMENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, NANCY ENUMAH SAYING: “It is faster to get to class and also you can use it for recreational activities in the evening, when you are done with classes or when you are stressed out basically.’’ VARIOUS OF PARKED TREKK SCOOTERS VARIOUS OF SCOOTERS WAITING TO BE CHARGED VARIOUS OF BATTERIES CHARGING LAGOS, NIGERIA (AUGUST 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO, TREKK SCOOTERS, ISAAC OYEDOKUN, SAYING: “Trekk Scooter is our baby and we are really excited to be on this project at this time especially when alternatives of micro-mobility in Nigeria are not clean, and then that is when we see the opportunity in this to bring it clean and also affordable transportation.’’ LAGOS, NIGERIA (AUGUST 4, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TREKK SCOOTER ENGINEER CHECKING BRAKES ON A SCOOTER VARIOUS OF ENGINEER FIXING A NEWLY CHARGED BATTERY TO A SCOOTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, CHINAZO UZOEGBU, SAYING: “Even if I’m running late, I’m not scared of how I am going to run the whole ten minutes journey, I’d rather just log in with my phone and I’ll be there in 3 minutes.’’ DRONE SHOT OF SCHOOL COMMUNITY OF THE PAN ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, LAGOS STUDENT RIDING PAST ON A SCOOTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, NANCY ENUMAH, SAYING: “The scooters does not have like helmets or something you have to wear so that should be maybe one of the things, helmets and pad, because even people that want to ride but like they are learning and don’t know how to ride, they might fall down and that will be a problem, it may scare them to stop riding again.’’ LAGOS, NIGERIA (AUGUST 9, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO, TREKK SCOOTERS, ISAAC OYEDOKUN, SAYING: “The new deployment that we are looking to roll out in about two months will come with a helmet for all our riders and will be able to wear whenever they are riding on our scooters. So we are big on safety and we always preach this or emphasize this on every community we go from the time of launch.’’ LAGOS, NIGERIA (AUGUST 4, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF A STUDENT RIDING A SCOOTER
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2022 11:44
  • Keywords: Eco-friendly Electric Scooter Transport
  • Location: Lagos, NIGERIA
  • City: Lagos, NIGERIA
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Africa,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA001777410082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: With just five minutes to the start of her next lecture, university student Nancy Enumah rushes out of her hostel.
    Enumah uses her phone to scan and unlock her preferred more of transportation - a parked scooter.
    A journey that usually takes her 20 minutes now only takes 3 minutes.
    ‘’It is faster to get to class and also you can use it for recreational activities in the evening, when you are done with classes or when you are stressed out basically," said Enumah, a second year Engineering student.
    ‘’Trekk Scooters’’, is an eco-friendly, tech mobility driven company, focusing on first and last minute transportation for gated communities, starting with schools.
    The company first launched in November 2021 at the Pan Atlantic University, a private university located in Lagos, Nigeria.
    Since then, they have expanded to 2 other private school communities, recording over 22,000 rides with their 50 operational electric scooters.
    Students in public universities in Nigeria have been at home since February 2022, due to an ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. This has delayed the transport company from expanding as much as they anticipated.
    Trekk Scooters was founded and self-funded by a group of 4 friends, who had experienced how scooters made their lives easy while living overseas and decided to replicate it in Nigeria.
    ‘’Trekk Scooter is our baby and we are really excited to be on this project at this time especially when alternatives of micro-mobility in Nigeria are not clean, and then that is when we see the opportunity in this to bring it clean and also affordable transportation,’’ says Isaac Oyedokun, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.
    The scooters are set to go as fast as 20kmph and can be ridden for up to 6 hours before needing a re-charge.
    Users can download the app from Google Play and App Store, credit their wallet and follow instructions on their phones to locate and unlock any nearby scooter.
    It cost a first 5 US cents to unlock the scooter, and 2.5 US cents for every other minute.
    ‘’Even if I’m running late, I’m not scared of how I am going to run the whole ten minutes journey, I’d rather just log in with my phone and I’ll be there in 3 minutes,’’ student, Chinazo Uzoegbu said.
    But while the students laud the scooters for its eco-friendly, fun and affordable features, Enumah says she still has reservations of safety, a concern that the Trekk Scooter team said they are aware of and part of the features that they will address in their next upgrade.
    "The scooters does not have like helmets or something you have to wear so that should be maybe one of the things, helmets and pad, because even people that want to ride but like they are learning and don’t know how to ride, they might fall down and that will be a problem, it may scare them to stop riding again,’’ Enumah said.
    ‘’The new deployment that we are looking to roll out in about two months will come with a helmet for all our riders, and will be able to wear whenever they are riding on our scooters so, we are big on safety and we always preach this or emphasize this on every community we go from the time of launch,’’ Oyedokun added.
    External funding and expansion remains top on the list as they gear to scale up, including opportunities to teach students how to fabricate the scooter parts, cutting down on imports.
    (Production: SEUN SANNI, ANGELA UKOMADU)
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