E-Bike Graveyard In Aberdeen
By Paul Homewood
h/t George Heraghty
From The Press & Journal:
Another ill thought out green scheme hits the buffers!
The Big Issue Ebikes started disappearing from many of their parking locations recently, with the app telling users there are ongoing “upgrades” being carried out.
But on Friday, Aberdeen City Council confirmed Big Issue Sharebikes’ intentions to pull out of the contract.
While the scheme’s future remains unclear, more than 100 of the red and white ebikes have been left sitting outside a unit in the Altens Industrial Estate.
The Press and Journal visited the unit just off Souter Head Road today and saw the rows of ebikes stacked outside.
Many of the ebikes were damaged, with some missing wheels, handlebars, or seats. Some of the ebikes were covered in a blue tarpaulin, while others lay scattered on the floor.
After knocking on the door, one man answered but could not give the P&J any answers about what was happening with the ebikes, or who to contact in the meantime.
The Big Issue Ebikes were launched in the Granite City in November 2022.
Although the initial roll-out was hindered by vandalism and the uptake was slow, it has attracted thousands of users since.
The initiative had 360 ebikes, with 200 in operation at 66 GPS-ringfenced parking spots around Aberdeen.
Just last November, the operations coordinator for the project told us there were around 10,000 people actively using the ebikes, and they had finally become “part of the city”.
Both the Big Issue and Sharebike have been approached for comment, however, attempts to contact the Big Issue Ebike team have resulted in emails and phone calls bouncing back.
Many readers commented on our Facebook post to say they weren’t surprised the scheme was being pulled and pointed the blame at vandalism.
Neil Hetherington said: “Not surprised, the way people have been vandalising them.
“People just cannot respect anything made available to them.”
Paul Wood commented: “The amount I see broken or mistreated, it’s unreal the cost of repairs, I would pull out as well…”
Nicola Cable wrote: “I have seen quite a few of them damaged or lying randomly about.”
Meanwhile, Will Del Mar Massie described the Altens unit where the ebikes are stored as a “literal graveyard”.
However, Malcolm Greig believes the scheme was pulled because of a “lack of use”.
Hiring out bikes to all and sundry without deposits or any other from of security was always inviting disaster.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
I have seen the future and it does not work!
I have seen the increasingly frantic work, and it has no future.
Has anyone here watched Rachel of Colchester ( formal title) ?
They had the same problem in Colchester, with abandoned electric scooters all over the city (part of a council scheme). So they started Colchester Council Watch, to scrutinise all their Net Zero spending. (The scooters were supposed to stop global warming , through some unexplained action.)
It seems like councils have been told they must abide by Net Zero targets, or lose government funding. And mad schemes like buying electric scooters are a Net Zero initiative – to stop so-called climate change.
Anyway, I have been doing some editing/coaching, to make sure these council watchers have the amunition to counter this crazed council spending.
Rachel of Colchester (with or without cardigan).
Ralph
I follow her posts. She’s an excellent speaker.
Brilliant work!
This is what happens when people drop them off.
And none of them are being charged.
Ralph
Will the cops now stop looking for hate speech and start watching the bikes?
Nah.
The China Show did an item a while back about huge fields full of abandoned bikes and cars in China. Churned out to collect government subsidies, registered and then dumped. HMG not the only incompetents on the planet.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-china-ev-graveyards/
I too have seen the future and it appears to be a large fire in a pile of tightly packed e-bikes.
Next to the dumped electric cars perhaps?
I regular go to Nottingham City Hospital, two years ago the council started one of these schemes. Since then the number of the bikes has gradually reduced until a couple of months ago on our last visit there were only one or two in the parking bays. Judging by the financial state of Nottingham City Council I can’t see anything other than total failure.
Derby has had one failed scheme and tried again last year. I haven’t seen any around the city so that’s probably failed too. Although it’s hard to get details.
“I regular go to Nottingham City Hospital” That statement causes me concern. Are you okay Glen?
Your tax dollar being put to poor use
All the Chinese scooter and bike hire schemes *will* fail. If only because the build quality of battery cells and wiring is simply pathetic.
I wonder at the RoI on the Santander Boris bikes in London – it has to be absolutely appalling. Once the novelty attenuated the usage rates must be absolutely miserable.
Not as big as the Chinese graveyards.
Any e-bike not to ‘specification’ is taken and dumped. With millions of e-bikes now in vast graveyards.
Some think this is a ploy, to keep factories active, with new customers.
Ralph
There’s lots of seriously shonky ebikes and scooters been knocked out ….
Seen quite a bit of retail remorse here.
Check out the scale of the e-bike mountains (graveyards) in China. And many of these bikes are confiscated by the government. (It is claimed this is to boost manufacturing….)
Net zero becomes Nut zero becomes not zero becomes not at all.
But did they get to keep the government subsidies. !!
Check out the scale of the e-bike mountains (graveyards) in China. And many of these bikes are confiscated by the government. (It is claimed this is to boost manufacturing….)
Apologies for duplication – having problems with this site being slow.
Ralph
E-bikes per se are a great idea for urban travel. It comes down to the gains accrued for a given weight penalty. Say, a human at 75 kg capable of 100W when pedalling. Time and energy efficient range probably up to 5 miles for a commuting situation. Add a motor and battery weighing 7kg and delivering 250W peak for up to 50 miles and you’ve got a massive boost to what becomes a practical and economic form of transport.
It doesn’t scale however. Add the weight and parasitic penalties of a full passenger EV going from the power and range of ICE systems to 1/7th the density when electric and it all falls apart after a simple basic analysis. Then there’s the massive change to the planetary electricity infrastructure and the dreadful waste of time waiting for charging. Add in the awful harms done to the planet from mining and inefficiencies of converting energy to charge the dreadful things and it’s just utter nonsense.
Idiot self serving politicians sucked in by the globalist elite agenda to make our lives smaller and theirs less cluttered by the hoi polloi.
Same problem in Devon & Cornwall when in 2023 an electric bike and car sharing social enterprise company called Co Bikes and Co Cars, which had been supported by hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers and county council subsidies, went bust. The company blamed the pandemic, high fuel and energy costs and vandalism and also supply issue problems (especially e-bike supplies where they said it was impossible to keep enough bikes on the road to make the business viable because they couldn’t attract additional public finding (ie subsidies)
We now have numerous redundant car and bike charging stations,mainly in all the large student centres in Devon & Cornwall, gradually deteriorating and continuing to take up valuable parking spaces.
Hertz is dumping 20,000 Electric cars in Canada. Another milestone in the march of coercive policies!