E-scooter . Some love them, others hate them. They are particularly unpopular when they are parked in the wild somewhere between the sidewalk, bike path and street. The scooters are an even bigger problem when they are deliberately sunk into water. In the worst case scenario, dangerous chemicals can escape from the batteries and poison the water. A particularly extreme case in this connection became known a few days ago. In the Rhine near Cologne, hundreds of e-scooters are supposed to slowly but steadily bumble around . The industry association is now promising a quick recovery – and is calling for rescue experts.
UNDERWATER DRONES ARE SUPPOSED TO RESCUE E-SCOOTERS
The Shared Mobility (PSM) platform, which brings together the e-scooter rental companies Bird , Dott , Lime , Spin , Tier and Voi , wants to rescue e-scooters lying in the Rhine on June 28 and 29 start. Subject to approval by the relevant authorities, a specialist company from the Netherlands will then search for the submerged scooters with underwater drones and robots. And then pull them out of the river. The focus is on the river sections around the Deutz Bridge and the Hohenzollern Bridge.
Christoph Egels, spokesman for the specialist working group on micromobility at PSM, says: “The equipment equipped with sonar and gripper arm will search the relevant sections for e-scooters and other vehicles that were thrown into the water by rioters. In this way we can first obtain certainty about how many e-scooters are actually in the water. ”Because of the current high water level and the poor visibility under water, this has not yet been sufficiently clarified.
According to the company, the costs for the cleaning campaign are entirely borne by the sharing providers. And this regardless of whether the objects to be recovered are e-scooters or other things such as bicycles or shopping carts. In addition to the two hotspots mentioned above, the search should also cover other areas. For example the Mülheimer Brücke, Zoobrücke and Severinsbrücke as well as the entire promenade. “After the inventory and the successful first large-scale recovery, the providers will commission construction divers to recover those e-scooters that the gripper arm of the underwater drone could not grasp,” says Egels.
BATTERIES ONLY PROTECTED ACCORDING TO IP67 CERTIFICATION
Recovered e-scooters would like to be taken to professional disposal companies after they have been recovered. In this context, Engels also refers to an IP67 certification of the batteries installed in the e-scooters. But this has to be interpreted as a half-hearted attempt to calm the mind. Because an IP67 certification only means that a device can survive up to 30 minutes in shallow water undamaged. If an e-scooter lies on the bottom of the Rhine for weeks or even months, this battery protection is unlikely to be of much use.
Independent of this, the PSM intends to carry out cleaning measures in rivers not only in Cologne, but also in other cities. For example in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. PSM spokesman Egels emphasizes: “We have no understanding for the irresponsible behavior of rioters.” They prosecute misconduct together with the local authorities and the police.
