The last 6 months have been a wild ride for the e-Mobility scene in Germany. The same can be said for us here at ePilot. Back in May, the German Parliament voted to allow electric scooters on the streets. In the same month our journey also began. 

As a new startup, in a relatively ‘quick to change’ market, we have learned to be agile in our ideation, approach and networking strategies. 

We wanted to take some time to go over some of the biggest milestones in the German e-Mobility scene that have taken place in the last 6 months. Some milestones shared both by the entire industry and some enjoyed just by ePilot.  

MAY 

This was the big month where German parliament voted to allow electric scooters with a max speed of 20 kilometers per hour on streets and bike paths. For ePilot, this was the month that transformed us from a unicorn idea and into an emerging reality. We began as a startup project lead by Paranoid Internet, a digital marketing agency and incubator for disruptive projects. For more on our “origin story” follow the link here. 

This month, the team attended Green Tech Festival in Berlin where we connected with key players in the e-Mobility market for the first time. 

JUNE

While Germany was just starting to seeing an e-Mobility boom begin, there were also many headlines around this time showing the potential negative aspects of the industry. A New York Times article sharing pictures of massive piles of bikes abandoned by ride sharing companies in the chinese province, Wangqingtuo seemed to be everywhere one social media. 

Germany coming late to the e-Mobility craze gave it a chance to see the problems other cities incurred in their ride sharing systems. ePilot’s initial approach was also a little cautious. We wanted to make sure that the product ideation, branding and messaging was all perfect. 

At this point in time, we were focused on an all inclusive map for e-Mobility. As well as attending e-Mobility events around Berlin to share ideas with those most deeply rooted in the German e-Mobility scene. 

Our website was built, socially media channels abuzz but we started to notice the team was stretched pretty thin.

JULY 

This was the month that Tier pulled ahead of the market competition, having twice as many app downloads as Lime. This was also the month we hired some new ePilot team members. Sune Bach joined as project manager with a creative approach and fresh new ideas. 

Our plans shifted as we honed in on who and what our product should be. Or maybe more importantly who our product should be for. Berlin is a hub for startups and innovative companies. ePilot decided it was our mission to offer them innovative e-Mobility services. In doing so, we decided to become an electric mobility subscription plan for companies. 

AUGUST

In August ePilot become officially ePilot Mobility GmbH. We began meeting with potential partners. Our service provides something important to our e-Mobility service provider partners. We can bring that riders that are not tourists but local and year round e-Bike and e-Scooter riders living and working in Berlin. 

SEPTEMBER

September we continued meeting potential partners and investors. In this same month, Lime announced that it had surpassed 1 million rides in Berlin alone. 

OCTOBER

We wanted our website to better reflect our platform that simplifies both rides for employees between multiple e-Mobility options and invoices for the companies providing the electric mobility as an employee benefits. For this we decided to update our website design with simple design elements in mind. In October we rolled out the new design. 

LOOKING FORWARD

We couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished in the past 6 months. We are also keenly looking towards the future. 

Drop us a line if you think an e-Mobility benefit is the perfect fit for you company culture. Furthermore, if you are part of an e-Mobility provider let them know we are here bringing our partners local and year round riders.