How Voi contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals – SDG 9: Voi and sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure

The UN Sustainable Development Goals set the global vision on how to create a sustainable world by 2030. At Voi, we’re working on nine of the seventeen goals. In our last post, we looked at Goal 11 Sustainable cities and communities. This time around, we’re looking at Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.

For us, this goal is all about using sustainable and efficient transport systems as a building block for dynamic and resilient economies. At Voi, we’re innovating with partners to help cities make green, reliable and inclusive transportation a reality. We have pioneered vehicle innovations as well as software and infrastructure innovations to make cities more connected while improving safety and sustainability.

What we have done so far

• Innovation: We have championed major innovations that have made e-scooter sharing safer, greener and more efficient, supported by our City Innovation Fund. 

• Battery technology: Voi was the first operator to commit to swappable batteries in 2019, a leapfrog innovation that cut our emissions by 50%, and made our operations safer for our employees. We are investing in best-in-class battery technology and analytics with partners like Nortical to extend the lifespan and ensure second-life applications for our batteries. We share findings with partners and industry networks to accelerate the safe electrification of transport globally.

• Inclusive parking infrastructure and innovation: Voi has worked closely with a number of disability advocacy groups across Europe such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to develop safe parking infrastructure solutions that consider the needs of vulnerable groups. Voi has deployed over 250 scooter parking racks made from recycled materials. We have pioneered a number of parking innovations to promote responsible parking, such as our ‘Parking Assistant’ feature, which analyses Parking Photos at the end of each ride and has reduced non-compliant user parking by 37%.

• Advanced GPS: Voi is investing in state-of-the-art geofencing technology that is revolutionising the GPS accuracy and safety of micromobility. 

• Safety research Voi is collaborating with the University of Warwick and the RNIB to develop a sound that can warn vulnerable people of approaching scooters. 

Our targets

• Clean batteries: Cut battery production emissions by 30% by developing a battery pack with European producers by 2022 (SDG 9.1, 9.4, 9.4.1) 

• Circularity: Increase second-life applications for all safe batteries by 2022 (SDG 9.4)

• Safety and parking innovation: Continue our research and innovation efforts using a combination of GPS technology and flexible parking infrastructure to solidify responsible scooter parking practices by 2022. (SDG  9.1 & 9.5)

• Sustainable infrastructure: Environmental certification of scooters parking racks by 2022 (SDG 9.1)

If you want to find out more about all our work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, take a look back at our 2019 Sustainability Statement  when we began aligning to the goals. We’ve come a long way but there’s so much more to do. 

This blog post is part of a series on how we work with nine of the 17 sustainable development goals. You can find the other blog posts in the series here:

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
SDG 5: Gender Equality
SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals