600 bikes have been added to Copenhagen‘s streets as Toyota trial e-bike and car sharing scheme in Danish capital via their Kinto brand

As Clean Air Zones and other car restrictions become more common in cities, car sharing schemes and bikes, both electric and unassisted, become a more attractive choice for many. In Copenhagen, Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has combined the two with an app that offers short term leasing of both cars and e-bikes under their mobility brand, Kinto.

As reported by Forbes earlier this week, the Danish city of Copenhagen has become the first to offer bookings of both e-bikes and cars via the same app. As it grows, the hope is for more cities to be included in this roll-out.

Almost 600 electric bikes were put onto the streets of Copenhagen last week, courtesy of Kinto. You can hire a bike for 2.55DKK per minute (plus a 10DKK starting fee), and they will need to be parked properly in dedicated areas at the end of each ride. That’s roughly 30p per minute.

If pay as you go isn’t your thing, then there are other options including commuter and student passes or a 72-hour pass.

While this isn’t the first e-bike sharing scheme in the world, it may be the first to offer easy access to both cars and e-bikes. In the UK, Kinto acts as more of a fleet provider and focuses more on B2B rather than B2C. Will we see e-bikes as part of their offering any time soon? Doubtful, but if the people of Copenhagen can prove there is an appetite, there is a path there.