GO Green, the parent company of the Dutch e-scooter sharing provider GO Sharing, has raised 50 million euros in a new financing round. At the same time, the start-up announced that it has just launched operations in the Belgian city of Antwerp with 500 e-scooters.

Honda’s new global CEO, Toshihiro Mibe, announced a tougher electric course for the manufacturer at a press conference. In his statements and targets, however, Mibe referred primarily to North America and China.

After Deutsche Post DHL Group presented its sustainability strategy in March, the Group has now given more details on the plans for its Post & Parcel Germany division. This will include 6,500 more StreetScooter vans, 5,000 e-trikes and expanded charging infrastructure.

Bio-Hybrid GmbH has filed for insolvency with the Nuremberg District Court. The start of series production, which was planned for mid-2021 after the separation from Schaeffler, is thus in jeopardy.

Micromobility provider Tier Mobility has partnered with Ari Motors and Ono to electrify the fleet for operational use. Tier staff will employ electric transporters from Ari and cargo pedelecs from Ono to exchange the batteries and kick scooters in the fleet.

Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof has launched a detachable powerbank that is designed to give riders up to 100 kilometres of extra range on the VanMoof S3 or X3 bikes and can be easily charged indoors.

Here is to a true transport turnaround as France and Finland get creative in their e-mobility incentives. France wants to offer owners of cars with combustion engines a special form of scrapping premium: 2,500 euros for the purchase of a pedelec.

Scientists from Sweden’s two major technical universities have developed a structural battery that is said to be ten times better than any previous version.

In a bid for more second-life uses for batteries, Gomi is launching a limited edition portable Bluetooth speaker powered by batteries from old Lime e-bikes. This involves 50,000 battery cells from over 1,000 old e-bikes from the sharing provider.

German battery group Varta is cooperating with the Austrian two-wheeler manufacturer KTM in the field of low-voltage battery platforms for electric two-wheelers from 250 watts to 20 kW peak power. The duo aims to “set accents in the development of two-wheeled electric vehicles.”

The Serbian capital Belgrade is aiming to invest a total of 5.2 billion euros by 2030 together with private stakeholders to reduce CO2 emissions and improve air quality. In doing so, the metropolis is also focusing on the electrification of the transport sector.

Lime is investing $50 million in new e-bikes compatible with their incoming scooter generation that offers battery swaps. The investment primarily aims to expand Lime’s ride-sharing fleets in Europe, with 15 cities poised to receive the e-bikes.

The Scottish Government has just awarded over £633,000 to support 45 e-bike projects across the country. The government has also awarded £210,000 to test new ways of improving accessibility across ChargePlace Scotland’s electric vehicle charging network. 

The New Zealand government has just approved funding for 22 new low-emission transport projects across the country. The projects in the latest round of government co-funding include a bike and car share scheme, EV charging stations as well as hydrogen and battery-electric trucks.

The government of Ireland has launched new schemes for e-mobility. One prepares for the use of e-scooters and e-bikes to become legal. The other concerns incentives for electric vehicles in the SPSV sector, which covers taxis, hackneys, and limousines.

In Canada, British Columbia’s Specialty-Use Vehicle Incentive (SUVI) is set to receive a $31-million cash boost to double the maximum rebates for electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles available for local businesses and governments, public sector organisations and non-profit organisations.

BMW and Daimler’s Free Now mobility platform aims to achieve carbon neutrality in all key European markets by 2030 and is committing more than 100 million euros in resources over the next five years to the shift toward e-mobility.

After Harley-Davidson recently announced its intention to enter the e-bike market with a newly formed brand, details follow on the Serial 1 Cycle Company’s first model range: The debut of Serial 1 includes four city pedelecs aimed at city commuters and occasional cyclists.

In April this year, the Netherlands banned smoking and the sale of tobacco products at train stations. Now, the old ashtray posts are to be replaced by e-bike charging stations designed by Lightwell.

Automotive supplier and manufacturer of e-bike drives Brose, and the connectivity specialist Comodule have presented a modular plug-and-play solution for e-bike sharing. Brose Connected Drive combines their drive with a connectivity module developed for fleet operators like Lime/Uber.

The VW group and the Greek government have agreed to establish a “pioneering mobility system” on the Mediterranean island of Astypalea. To this end, the island’s current transport system is to be converted to electric vehicles and regenerative energies.

Harley-Davidson has announced that it is entering the electric bicycle market with a new brand. The first product line of the new company Serial 1 Cycle Company will be launched in spring 2021, also in Europe.

Three months after the start of its pilot project in Berlin, the e-bike subscription service Dance has successfully completed a financing round of 15 million euros. The company of SoundCloud founders Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss and Alexander Ljung is now planning to launch the service in other European cities. An expansion into the USA could also follow.

BMW and Daimler are now selling parts of their mobility-as-a-service businesses. Mobimeo, the German national rail service Deutsche Bahn subsidiary, is taking over parts of the B2B and B2G side of things, while Uber is apparently very interested in taking over the ride-hailing and micromobility-sharing service FreeNow.

Schaeffler has sold all shares in its subsidiary Schaeffler Bio-Hybrid GmbH to Micromobility Services and Solutions GmbH, based in Berlin. Series production of the four-wheeled pedelec Bio-Hybrid is scheduled to start in mid-2021 under the new owner.

The European Commission has initiated a review of the type approval directive for motorised vehicles. A revision could bring the end of stifling regulation for e-bikes such as speed pedelecs and even cargo bikes.

The Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof has raised another 34 million euros from investors. The Series B funding comes only a few months after a 12.5 million euro investment in May and is meant to support VanMoof’s global expansion.

Toronto sees the installation of a new e-bike sharing as Bike Share Toronto launched a pedal-assist bike pilot program this week. The pedelecs are available on the app already, while the charging stations will be installed over the next few weeks.

For model year 2021, Yamaha and Mahle have both introduced new e-bike drives. Both companies are following the trend towards smaller and lighter drives that are easier to integrate into the frame.

In Croatia, the online application procedure for the new call for funding for electric and hybrid vehicles had to be cancelled after only two minutes because so many applications were received from private individuals that the 2020 budget for the funding programme of €2.9M was exhausted.