Chinese bike-sharing giant Hello Inc, previously known as Hellobike, is launching an electric scooter for the average consumer, competing against brands including Chinese electric scooter maker Niu Technologies, as reported by Tencent News on April 7.
Hello has launched three electric scooters, the Hello A80, Hello B80, and Hello B86, and one version of the Hello A80 is currently available for pre-order at a price of RMB 4,499 ($687).
Hello says its electric scooters have a range of more than 70 kilometers, can be fully charged in one hour, and can be charged and discharged more than 2,000 times.
Hello electric scooters will be priced at a flat rate, with orders submitted online and picked up in stores. In addition, Hello has also launched the VVSMART Telematics system.
Currently, Hello electric scooters are mostly manufactured by OEMs, and the ideal future would be a 50/50 split between the company's own production and that of the OEMs, according to Chi Xingde, general manager of the company's electric scooters division.
According to Hello, its app now has 400 million registered users and its bike-sharing business covers more than 460 cities in China, with more than 1,000 retail stores and 200 flagship stores.
Niu Technologies says sales could reach 1.1 million units this year