E-scooters fall head over wheels for battery swapping

Ben Gillan, a warehouse operations manager at Dott, changes a swappable battery in one of the micromobility provider's electric scooters, in London, Britain, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Nick Carey

(Reuters) - While swappable batteries are slow-burners in the electric car market, they have been a quick hit for e-scooters and e-bikes, making it easier and cheaper for rental companies to keep the small vehicles available on city streets.

But the fast-growing micromobility industry faces a bottleneck as companies, reluctant to relinquish their own tech secret sauce, resist widespread standardization of batteries, a development that could turbocharge efficiency.