Partying mopeds will soon be a thing of the past on the streets of New York City.
After five years, the Brooklyn-based company announced Friday that it would stop operating its bright blue two-wheelers, of which there were once thousands, on Nov. 18.
“In short, ridership reached a low point that made operating mopeds unsustainable for another season,” Bobby Familiar, a spokesperson for Revel, told Gothamist.
The news was first reported by TechCrunch, which noted that Revel would also be laying off 67 employees.
According to Familiar, the company will now focus on its “all-EV rideshare service for all employees combined with public fast charging stations.”
Founded in 2018, Revel has a small fleet of electric mopeds at its Bushwick store. But the company quickly expanded to other markets, including San Francisco, Miami and Washington, D.C., and at one point had 3,000 mopeds in the five boroughs and as many spread across the other markets.
However, demand weakened significantly in 2022, forcing the company to withdraw from certain markets. Currently, Revel mopeds are only available in San Francisco and New York.
Revel briefly suspended operations in New York City in July 2020 after two drivers died. However, New Yorkers were able to rent the ubiquitous blue mopeds again just a month later after the company implemented stricter safety measures.
The company said it is also growing in other areas, including a ride-hailing service and developing “superhubs” for charging electric vehicles. On November 1, Revel cut the ribbon on a 24-hour charging station at Queens Plaza in Long Island City. attended by business representatives and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“We are bringing similar public infrastructure to the South Bronx, Harlem, Lower Manhattan and other parts of Brooklyn and Queens next year,” Familiar said. “These stations will be particularly useful for rideshare drivers who ride electric as part of the city’s new Green Rides initiative.”
In his letter When CEO and co-founder Frank Reig announced the closure of Revel’s moped business to riders on Friday, he said, “We have 500 electric vehicles in New York, operated by over 1,500 employed drivers, providing rides in all five boroughs.”
Mopeds, Reig said, “are a big part of Revel’s history and they have provided such a fun way to get around town.”
“We are grateful to everyone who has walked this journey with us,” he said.