As if anyone needed yet another reason to one day call downtown San Diego home, mobility innovators Veo are setting up 1,000 electric devices throughout the city, making it easier for everyone to go from their downtown San Diego condos to anywhere their hearts desire (in the area, of course).
The Chicago-based company was co-founded in 2017 by CEO Candice Xie, who explained that their technology is lesser known in areas where they aren’t present because they haven’t landed themselves in any media-worthy attention, unlike Uber, for example. Their business model has been to grow one city at a time, and they are currently present in 40 cities.
Understanding that transportation, especially in the scooter sector, takes years of planning with both the public and private sector’s involvement, Xie was one of only three electric scooter companies to win a city-ran pilot program in the metro market of New York City.
Anyone currently residing in downtown San Diego may be thinking to themselves by now that there are already two-wheeled, seated electric devices zipping around a couple of years ago. This is true: A Los Angeles-based company named ‘Wheels’ unload a couple hundred scoots back in January, 2019, but were forced to pull their products from the San Diego market for violating California Vehicle Code requirements. Wheels has since adjusted their design and are permitted 750 devices in the area.
Other tech companies utilizing electric scooters were around before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, but city regulations created so much red tape that it started costing companies to continue doing business in the area, so they pulled their devices from the market. As of today, Wheels, Bird, Link, Lyft, and Spin all have electric scooters in downtown San Diego, with Veo’s expected 1,000 more.
With more people moving to the area, traveling by electric scooter may be more convenient, depending on where you’re going. At its height of popularity, there were nearly 14,000 devices available. With companies exiting and Veo’s entrance, there will be less than 6,000. However, this doesn’t suggest that more companies wouldn’t be willing to move in as the market grows.