Yulu Miracle - app based electric scooters

Those of you who live in Bangalore, especially in places such as Indiranagar, Koramangala and Whitefield may have noticed different looking and noiseless blue scooters whizzing past you as you are stuck in traffic. These new scooters that can be hired through a mobile app called Yulu are used by all age groups. Currently, a majority of people (including me) use it for joyrides rather than optimizing their travel.

For those of you who still have no idea, refer to the picture above!

These electric scooters that are provided by Yulu are known as 'Miracles' and can be hired per 10 minutes through their app that can be downloaded on the Play Store as well as the App Store.

Having clocked at least 15 hours on these exciting new scooters in the past few weeks, I have many stories to tell.

 

Although there is more awareness about these scooters today, as close as three weeks ago, barely anyone had any idea about it. Riding these scooters were fun and the closest I could get to riding a powered vehicle being a 17 year old. On my various trips, I have been at the receiving end of a lot of stares, laughs and enquiries. The stares are from all types of people, the laughs are from bikers who can go faster than me (i.e., >25 kmph) and the enquiries are from people my age and younger, parents whose kids have been pestering them to try it out, grandparents (though generally the grandfathers) who want to try it out and most importantly - our sacred auto drivers who are amazed by the pick up these scooters have.

I was not spared by even food delivery boys (specifically Zomato ones) who were willing to trade their scooters for a test ride on the Yulu Miracle. Noticing the lack of a registration plate, they remarked that they should start using these scooters that costs only Rs. 60 an hour because it would be cheaper than paying bribes and fines to our dear traffic cops even when they themselves were at fault for jumping signals to deliver food as quickly as possible. They added their bags can be placed on top of the battery.

Over the last three weeks, I have mastered using Yulu. A couple of days after first riding it, a classmate and I decided to go 'Yuluing' (a term that I take credit for coining) and went out looking for two Miracles. After having walked for almost a kilometer, we coincidentally bumped into two other classmates and their friend looking for the same scooter. However, no scooter was found. This was the second time the app had glitched. Overlooking the minor setback, all five of us made a dash to look for our Yulus since it was scarcely available as it was a Friday evening. The car was called for and the classmate with whom I had started my journey and I got in and we sped away to the next Yulu zone. I found a scooter but she wasn't as lucky. While I started my trip, she got back into the car and I followed the car to the next Yulu zone, hoping that we would not be beaten by the other three to the same zone and more importantly - the app would not glitch for the third time. We were not let down this time.

This weekend, after a week's sabbatical from Yuluing (because of the deep impact it had had on my pockets), I resumed Yuluing and noticed a drastic change. Despite it being a Saturday, the number of Yulus available were many. This is possibly because of the fact that the security deposit required to ride the Yulu has increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 250. The steep increase has negatively impacted them. Although I topped up my deposit and continued to ride, another change was visible.

In Indiranagar, where the Yulus are most popular, the number of queries and stares have dwindled. Even in areas such as Church Street and MG Road where Miracles are not available, the number of queries has reduced.

However, my interst in these scooters is unabated. They perform really well and are easy to use and hire, except for a couple of glitches here and there. Although I understand the rationale behind the increasing the security deposit, I hope that it will not be increased to such a price that it makes it unaffordable for the common man. Having used as well as seen the damage caused to Yulu's other service - their on-demand cycle hire one, I understand why the security deposit is being increased but so far, I have thankfully not seen any major damage caused to any Miracle. I hope that the public treats these scooters fairly to ensure that they can be used sustainably.

On a side note - if anyone in Yulu reads this article, please DM me and I will share an invoice for amount of marketing that I have carried out and business that I have brought for your company. I hope that at least the cost of my rides so far can be compensated :)