After working for 17 years as a PSA-Peugeot Citroën engineer, Ghislain Lestienne founded Pink Mobility, a dynamic startup that designs, builds and distributes electric scooters. Ghislain talks to us about the Last Mile Delivery market that Pink has been targeting since its creation, at the end of 2016 with the launch of its first utility scooter, the « Pink Up ».
Multiple factors drive the exponential growth of Last Mile Delivery in cities. Traffic congestion is one of them, along with the huge demand for home delivery of goods and food services, fuelling the need for 
agile transportation empowered by the gig economy.
Pink has been riding successfully this new trend.
Mission: to convince delivery professionals to transition to electric mobility. A strong case.
The regulation change that made two-stroke motorcycles illegal has impacted the usage of loud mopeds. Noise pollution is a key factor driving the shift to new technology. Residential areas are often afflicted by the noise nuisance of thermic engines. Many local communities attempt to block the openings of food delivery services in residential areas, by fear of the rattling exhaust noise, especially late at night. A practice that business owners obviously need to take into account. 
Another key selling point for business owners is the maintenance costs of electric scooters being cut by half. Additionally, the cost of energy consumption is twenty times lower for electricity compared to fuel. Spending time and money at the petrol station is a habit no one will miss.
Delivery often means carrying a significant load over long distances, under time constraints. Autonomy is key, Pink developed scooters powered by removable batteries, that can be recharged from a regular 220V power socket. No need to access the charging station, or to install costly new equipment. With a 
dual battery pack, scooter drivers use one battery, while the other one recharges, and swap when necessary. No down time spent waiting for the vehicle battery to recharge, the Pink Up autonomy is virtually unlimited.
We usually associate Last Mile Delivery with food services such as pizza or sushi home delivery.
But various businesses are also adopting electric scooters. A Paris based moving company operates with a split team : the lorry team is backed by two colleagues riding electric scooters. Furniture and boxes are swiftly positioned on the pavement by the lorry team, which then drives away to optimise its time on the road. Meanwhile, the agile workers bring the furniture from the pavement up to their final destination. 
Electricians also make use of electric scooters for their install and repair work, to transport cabling and even radiators.
Vegetables growers deliver their organic baskets everywhere in Paris (up to 8 baskets can fit in a large top case).
Examples abound, like this local baker who requested a bespoke top case to carry his freshly baked « baguettes », or this dry-cleaner who uses electric scooters for cloth collection and delivery. And if you went on a Haute Couture shopping spree, a dynamic startup will get your precious goods delivered to your home in a Pink scooter.
Vehicle ownership is often replaced by rental and sharing services. Drivers pay per minute, per hour, or per day, or eventually on a monthly or yearly basis.
Leasing offerings come with the option to purchase a Pink scooter at the end of the contract.
The sharing services thrive: Cityscoot, YEGO, Cooltra and Troopy all offer large fleets of scooters everywhere in city centres. These fleets need proper management, they represent thousands of vehicles that need to be maintained, recharged, or eventually parked properly if the user didn’t bother doing so.
The « rangers » who deliver these services often travel by… electric scooters. This is not about delivery anymore, but operations and logistics. Pink Mobility has been supporting this new business. TIER Mobility operates 5,000 e-scooters in Paris, a fleet supported by the Pink Up model by Pink Mobility. In Paris and Bordeaux, YEGO uses Pink Up to maintain a fleet of more than 1,000 Pink Style electric scooters!
Pink now engages with couriers, who traditionally use thermic engines 125cc scooters. Couriers are closely following the trend of electric scooters transition, but they are demanding drivers who expect to keep the same level of driving pleasure, along with an autonomy past the 100-km mark.
When can we expect to see a real 125cc electric scooter equipped for Last Mile Delivery?
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