Revel, After Disrupting Cities With Moped Chaos, Is Just Another Uber Clone Now

Revel, the buzzy startup that burst onto the scene in 2019 by splashing distinctive black and blue electric mopeds all over New York City and raised more than $200 million in funding, is shutting down its moped-sharing business to become yet another Uber clone.

While just a few years ago, the company was touting plans to expand its e-mopeds to dozens of markets, Revel announced that it is shutting down the e-moped share program in New York and San Francisco, the two remaining cities in which it was operating, with a banner notification on its website. Between the demise of the mopeds and a brief, failed experiment with monthly e-bike rentals, Revel’s only remaining lines of business are an app-based taxi company and electric vehicle charging hubs in New York City.

“Revel’s CEO Frank Reig informed all employees Friday that the company is bringing an end to its shared electric moped service and will now fully focus on its all-EV, all-employee rideshare and public fast charging businesses,” Revel spokesperson Robert Familiar said in a statement. “Revel is currently developing large public fast charging networks in America’s two densest metros, New York and the Bay Area.”

Revel, the most lasting legacy of which in New York City will be as an answer at Williamsburg bar trivia nights, was briefly the talk of the town during the early pandemic days, especially in New York, as people who used to rely on the close quarters of public transit sought safer-seeming ways to get around. As the weather warmed up, people flocked to the electric mopeds. But multiple deaths and injuries led Revel to briefly suspend service and saddled it with lawsuits. Particularly during that first summer, Revels were praised as a true transportation revolution and condemned as virtually omni-present annoyances or worse, with people riding them in bike lanes, against traffic, on separated bike paths and sidewalks, and running traffic lights, all of which are illegal.

Ultimately, Revel’s scooter-share business was likely done in by the same factors that have hampered or sunk nearly all shared transportation devices. The actual costs of running a safe and reliable shared transportation business that provides people a ride when they need it with minimal wait or inconvenience are almost always higher than what people are willing to pay for. In New York, a city where most people do not have cars, Revel rides were much more expensive than the city’s subway or buses, but cheaper than an Uber. For a time, this helped plug gaps, especially for those going between Brooklyn neighborhoods poorly served by the subway and traveling on nights and weekends, when the subway is plagued with crippling service changes. 

But that was before the city’s bikeshare system, Citibike, expanded its e-bike program. Revels now compete with Citibike’s newer e-bikes, which are more prevalent than Revels, cheaper to use, and permitted in bike lanes separate from snarling traffic ,which makes journeys faster. But even CitiBike’s owner, Lyft, is growing weary of operating the bikeshare system, which is labor-intensive to operate especially now that e-bikes need to have batteries replenished. In the end, Revel is yet another hyped shared transportation company that found the only way to make money on moving people in the U.S. is with cars.

Riders will have until November 18 to take one last whirl on the silent cruisers before they’re taken off the streets. The mopeds will then be sent to recycling facilities, Familiar said.

Update: This story was updated with comment from Revel.