Vienna removes 429 abandoned e-mopeds after rule change

Vienna’s municipal towing team has removed 429 e-mopeds left on streets since new rules took effect, ORF reported. A further 31 were handed in at city waste collection centres. E-mopeds have been barred from cycle paths for a month and have required registration and number plates since October.

Andreas Tesar, head of the city’s towing team, told ORF’s Wien heute programme that batteries were missing from almost all the vehicles. Only four of the 429 e-mopeds removed from streets had batteries, as did four of the 31 handed in at waste centres.

After two months, the vehicles become city property. Damaged e-mopeds are disposed of by the city’s MA 48 department; the rest are shredded and recycled once they transfer to city ownership. Police have flagged just 11 e-mopeds since the rule change, almost all for lacking registration.

Some retailers are also struggling to find a use for their stock. Milad Iranpur, who runs the Fadu Bike Store in Vienna’s fourth district, said he has about 40 new e-mopeds and another 40 used ones in storage. He had been lending the used vehicles to food couriers. Since October 1, he has been unable to sell them and is looking for buyers in other countries.

Iranpur estimated his losses at 80,000 to 100,000 euros, not including disposal costs. He said suppliers had often removed the batteries because they accounted for about half the cost of a vehicle priced at 2,000 euros and could potentially be used elsewhere. If he cannot find a solution by December, he may have to dispose of the stock.

Food delivery companies Foodora and Lieferando said they had made the switch to compliant vehicles without disrupting deliveries. Lieferando said eligible couriers could get 40 euros off their monthly subscription to a branded CYCLE e-bike, and that it had expanded the offer in response to demand. Foodora said it also uses the subscription model and had prepared for the change in advance.