43: Shared Mopeds: next generation micromobility with Frank Reig, CEO of Revel

In this episode, Oliver interviews Frank Reig, CEO of Revel, an e-moped sharing system in NYC/DC that has just announced a $27.6m raise to expand to 10 new cities.It’s a fascinating interview as shared e-mopeds have a number of key operational improvements over the more popular kick scooter/electric bike shared systems that we’ve seen.Specifically we discuss:- Their recent raise and plans for the next 12-18 months.- Their origin story from Frank’s experiences in Argentina and his background in the electric vehicle space- The financial, infrastructural and operational advantages of using e-mopeds over normal kick scooters, and how that drives them to consider themselves more like a parallel to the carshare industry than the kick scooter industry.- Their fleets in NYC and DC, and the experiences they’ve had working with regulators in both.- How they deal with parking, and why they believe that is part of Revel’s ‘special sauce’.- A deeper dive on both their vehicle longevity and their swappable battery advantages.- Why they’re able to finance all their vehicle, and how that improves the capital efficiency of the operations.- How they think about competition, especially from larger players.- How their full time labor model changes regulatory conversations with cities.- How their vehicle type lends itself to longer trips, and the role that they play as a transport option in a suburb with relatively low connectivity options.- How they’re able to end up being a cheaper operator than both Bird and Lime in some markets.- How they were able to learn from Scoot and it’s lessons from San FranciscoReflections on their safety and insurance practices- Other form factors that would make sense for them to expand into in the futureThanks to this week’s sponsor Particle. Particle provides an end-to-end IoT platform, from device management to connectivity to hardware for connecting micromobility vehicles to networks and reducing complexity as operations scale. For operators that I’ve talked to, they’re a godsend in the world of highly complex and competitive operations.Visit Particle.io/micromobility to learn more and request a free IoT development kit. All podcast listeners will also receive a free consultation. Visit Particle.io/micromobility today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit micromobility.substack.com/subscribe