Collaboration with Gachaco brings Honda Benly e electric scooters and battery swapping stations to urban commuters and businesses in the city.
Japanese company OpenStreet has officially launched its newest electric vehicle rental service on December 23, 2022, in the bustling city of Tokyo. Dubbed “Hello Mobility,” the service is a collaboration between OpenStreet and Gachaco, and features Honda Benly e electric scooters that are outfitted with top boxes for rider convenience, as well as Gachaco battery swapping stations.
Gachaco, a consortium of Japan’s four leading motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, along with the Japanese energy company ENEOS, had opened its first two battery swapping stations in Japan in early December.
Hello Mobility is a shared vehicle platform that includes EV scooter stations, Gachaco battery swapping stations, and a smartphone app. The process is simple – reserve the scooter at a Hello Mobility station, pick it up, swap batteries at Gachaco stations as needed, and return the scooter to any Hello Mobility station when you’re done.
Pricing starts at 160 yen (approximately $1.20) for 15 minutes of use, but it remains unclear whether there will be any discounts for longer usage. The company plans to start the service in the Jonan area of Tokyo, which includes the Meguro, Minato, Ota, Setagaya, Shibuya, and Shinagawa wards and will be expanding in the future.
HELLO MOBILITY ‘s service usage flow: View rate plan in detail in the HELLO MOBILITY app.
OpenStreet sees Hello Mobility as a useful service for short-term mobility for city commuters, as well as corporate and sales activities in urban areas. It remains to be seen if the service will be as popular as the similarly-named major bicycle-sharing platform, Hello Cycling, which is also operated by OpenStreet.
Source: Autoby