Autonomous scooters

KickScooter T60. © Segway-Ninebot Group.

Chinese company Segway-Ninebot Group has unveiled new products, including the KickScooter T60, a three-wheeled electric scooter that uses AI to autonomously return to its charging station. These smart scooters are intended for scooter fleet operators like Bird, Jump, Lime and Lyft that are popping up in major cities all over the world. The scooters’ autonomous driving function means that they can reposition themselves, instead of being manually collected and moved. Created in 2015 from the merger of Chinese electronics manufacturer Ninebot and American company Segway, Segway-Ninebot Group quickly became one of the main manufacturers of electric scooters for shared fleet startups, selling 1.6 million scooters in 2018. The KickScooter T60 should sell for 10,000 yuans (USD1,420), far more than the company’s classic scooters, which sell to scooter operators for USD100 to 300.

⇨ YouTube, “Segway Ninebot KickScooter T60.”

⇨ TechCrunch, “Segway-Ninebot’s new scooter drives to its docking station for a recharge.”

⇨ Reuters, “China’s Ninebot unveils scooters that drive themselves to charging stations.”