What went wrong with Dundee’s e-bikes and who foots the bill?

The popular Dundee e-bike scheme was launched in 2020, but it went into liquidation in February. So what exactly went wrong?

A new era for Dundee cyclists emerged in 2020 as Spanish firm Ride-On began trials for their e-bike hire scheme.

It started with a 30-day beta trial with 450 riders testing them out.

It was going to be the largest scheme of its kind in Scotland, with 400 e-bikes planned around the city.

Financial services firm Embark Group sponsored the bikes, which Ride-on Scotland operated.

But in February 2023, Ride-On Scotland appointed joint provisional liquidators at FRP Advisory to wind-up the business.

Since then, the remaining infrastructure remains dotted around Dundee’s streets, with seemingly no plans in place to get rid of the e-bike docking stations.

So where did it all go wrong?

Where did the e-bike scheme go wrong?

Perhaps there should have been alarm bells going off when the company announced the scheme would be “frozen” over the winter in 2022.

They put the e-bikes into storage and left Dundee commuters at a loss over the colder months.

Sara Ylipoti, chief operations officer at Ride-On, said with certainty that the scheme would reopen this spring – only she could not say when.

Ride-On also made promises to double the number of e-bikes and chargers in 2021. Spoiler alert, they never reached that 400 bike goal.

Now, the company has gone into liquidation and they have put the bikes, charging systems, software and the maintenance system up for sale.

So what happened?

The scheme was a great move for the environment, providing a way for even the less fit among us to cycle to work.

E-bikes help you reduce your carbon footprint and relieve congestion on the roads.

In July 2022, it was calculated that the scheme had saved 35,000kg of CO2 emissions since its launch.

And Callum Carmichael, partner with FRP Advisory and joint provisional liquidator, praised Ride-On Scotland for its “sophisticated and customer-focused e-bike hire business”.

But were there problems with it from the beginning?

When Norwegian company Sharebike launched an e-bike scheme in Aberdeen in 2022, “youth gangs” vandalised the bikes just days after installation.

And Dundee’s e-bike scheme got off to a similarly rocky start.

West End residents mounted a successful legal action against Dundee City Council after it approved placing a large e-bike rack on Blackness Avenue.

They weren’t fans of the bike racks right outside their tenements.

But aside from these teething problems, what were the e-bikes like for users?

Was it too expensive to hire the Dundee e-bikes?

In 2019, Dundee City Council published their Dundee Cycling Strategy.

Among the many plans and goals in this document, was the following:

“Dundee City Council will work with Ride-On Scotland to deliver a public e-bike hire scheme in locations across Dundee that will offer residents and visitors an affordable, attractive and sustainable option for travel around the city.”

But not everyone saw the e-bike hire scheme as affordable.

Valentine Scarlet is with the Dundee Cycling group. She said the bikes were too confusing – and too expensive – to use.

“The pricing system was far too complex,” she said, “and they were far too expensive.”

Valentine and a friend decided to test out the e-bikes, but changed their minds when they saw the “daft” price of hire.

The Dundee scheme had 20 charging stations. It cost £60 for an annual pass or £12 a month as well as usage charges.

Although the e-bikes were popular along the waterfront, Valentine said this was limited to this route and used mostly by tourists.

The lack of cycle infrastructure in Dundee, Valentine said, discouraged Dundonians from hiring the e-bikes.

“In the rest of the city,” she went on, “you didn’t see the bikes being used in the way that they envisioned, because there are no good cycling facilities.

“If they do come back, it needs to be much simpler and easier to use, and Dundee needs to get a better cycling infrastructure.”

Dundee City Council have an updated map of the cycle lanes around the city, which shows on and off-road cycle routes.

Who foots the bill for the Dundee e-bikes?

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said removing the bikes isn’t the council’s responsibility. However, they are keeping an eye on things.

He said: “This matter is being managed by FRP Advisory who were appointed following the liquidation of Ride On Scotland.

“The council is continuing to monitor the situation.”

He added: “Active travel infrastructure in Dundee, including new and improved dedicated cycle lanes, has been the focus of investment in the city for the past few years with a number of major projects underway and others at various stages of consultation.”

The business and assets went up for sale at the end of February.

The joint provisional liquidators were “encouraged by the response” from interested parties in mid-March.

Their spokesperson told The Courier that the deadline for offers was March 31.  However, the group then extended it to last week.

Now, they have chosen a buyer.

A spokesperson for FRP Advisory said:

“The joint [provisional liquidators] have selected a buyer and will now work towards a sale of the assets of Ride-on Scotland, including the purchase and removal of the infrastructure which will be organised following completion of the sale process.”