Hello Brussels: Voi launches its service in the heart of Europe

After successfully launching in more than 70 cities across Europe, including Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, Helsinki, Seville, Birmingham, Liverpool and Oslo, Voi is rolling out its service in Brussels. The first e-scooters are available to rent starting today. Voi strives to be a strategic partner for Brussels Mobility and support in a transition towards more sustainable mobility.

“Mobility in cities like Brussels faces many challenges, ranging from congestion, accidents, air pollution to irresponsible parking. Every city official and mobility operator is working hard to be able to offer a more sustainable alternative in the near future. Voi has the ambition to be part of those solutions and to contribute to more sustainable, greener and safer mobility in cities, accessible to all people”, emphasizes Charlotte Serres, General Manager Belgium, France & Spain at Voi.

Voi’s number one priority is the safety of its riders and other road users. In 2020, several safety features were implemented in the Voi app to improve road safety, such as the beginner’s mode setting which caps the scooters maximum speed during a user’s first few rides, or the reaction test to tackle drunk riding. Voi also developed the world’s first online traffic school for e-scooters, RideLikeVoila, where users learn about traffic rules, parking and road safety in general. Voi’s traffic school has been certified by Belgian VIAS Institute and educated more than half a million users across Europe so far.

Voi was also the first micro-mobility company to issue an annual safety report which covers Voi’s actions to improve road safety, insights on safety risks and opportunities for shared micro-mobility across Europe according to international road safety experts.

Voi is a worldwide partner of Citymapper and Moovit. In August of this year, the Swedish micro-mobility operator also entered into a partnership with Google Maps, where Voi e-scooters are listed as a means of transport in the route planner in several cities in Europe. This makes it even easier to plan the route, calculate the travel time, estimate the price and combine different modes of transport. This feature is expected to be available in Brussels in September.

Climate neutral micro mobility

Sustainability is a top priority at Voi, which was the first e-scooter provider to have a full life cycle analysis of their service conducted by EY and published. This has enabled us to map our emissions and develop alternatives to reduce them. For example, the latest Voi model is made of 30% recycled material and has a lifespan of 5+ years.

Voi invests in improved e-scooters and the training of local repair teams so that every scooter and component can be used for as long as possible. In addition, the introduction of swappable batteries has resulted in a significant 95% reduction in emissions. Empty batteries are now exchanged on site using Voi’s service fleet which is fully electric and mainly consists of cargo bikes and e-vans. Finally, Voi reuses the spare parts to extend the lifespan of its’ scooters, and give a second life to scooters who can no longer be used. The goal is to stop producing waste by 2022.

“At Voi, we work with cities and communities to enable the transition to shared, multimodal and climate neutral mobility. We focus on two pillars: firstly, offering a climate neutral mobility service, we are very proud that Voi has been climate neutral since January 2020. Second, by encouraging people to reduce the number of trips by car. We do this by designing our services to be inclusive and accessible to everyone,” explains Richard Corbett, VP Market Development at Voi.

Read more about Voi’s sustainability strategy here.