The Future of Mobility Just Got (Lime) Greener

Today, we’re thrilled to announce our investment in Lime and its two co-founders, Toby Sun and Brad Bao.

Here at BMW i Ventures, we spend a great deal of time thinking deeply about the future of mobility. What will the sidewalks and roads of tomorrow look like, and how will goods and people travel over them? We knew we’d seen the future when we met the team and experienced the product at Lime.

More than half of all urban trips are 3 miles or less. They’re the quick coffee runs we make in the morning; the last few blocks between our subway or bus stops and the office; the nearby lunch spots we visit in the afternoon.

These short, local trips define our daily travel, yet 72% of them are made in large, bulky vehicles that spend an overwhelming majority of their time parked or idling in stop-and-go traffic. We’d rather spend 10 minutes traveling 2 miles via Uber or Lyft than 20 minutes walking the same distance. What an inefficient use of space and fuel. Even the most efficient combustion or electric car will still consume 40-50x more energy per kilometer than an electric scooter.

Fortunately, the rise of electric bikes, scooters, and other personal vehicles threaten to upend this status quo, and we’re thrilled to help with our investment in Lime.

We see a future filled with cleaner air, less congested streets, and a more mobile population. Once cities and citizens realize how much cheaper, quicker, and more convenient micro-transportation is for everyone, whole lanes will be converted to e-mobility zones.

We have long seen a future where local urban trips will be made on electric, shared, on-demand vehicles, and we are confident that many of those trips will be on Lime e-bikes and scooters.