Shared micromobility company Bird launches two retail scooters, available at Target

Bird, the shared micromobility company that recently went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, has launched two new kick scooters for sale. The Bird Flex, a foldable personal e-scooter costing $599, and the Birdie Glow, a three-wheel scooter for kids that costs $99, will add to the company's small but growing suite of consumer micromobility vehicles.

These two new scooters, along with the Bird Bike the company launched back in August, will be available for direct-to-consumer purchases or through retail giant Target. The vehicles are only being sold in the U.S. at the moment, but Bird told TechCrunch it hopes to start selling the new scooters in Europe next year.

Despite the fact that vehicle sales only made up a small percentage of Bird's Q3 top line revenue at 2.1%, the company appears to be trying to build out its hardware sales unit at a time when sales of personal micromobility vehicles are on the rise. A December McKinsey study on micromobility found 70% of participants would be willing to ride a micromobility vehicle to work.

Bird would not share how many retail products it has sold so far, nor how much top line revenue it expects to receive from retail sales.

“As interest in shared and personal electric vehicles grows across the country, we are continuing to expand our offerings of eco-friendly transportation products to meet the needs of riders at every age and at a variety of price points,” said Brian Buccella, SVP of consumer products and government partnerships at Bird, in a statement. “We know that people are looking to micro electric vehicles to replace gas-powered car trips to get around their cities. With a full suite of personal micromobility devices, we can help expand the reach and access to eco-friendly transportation.”

The Bird Flex, which is recommended for riders age 16 and up, follows in the footsteps of the Bird Air, Bird's first personal electric kick scooter. The price point between them is the same, as are many metrics of the vehicles. In fact, the Flex has a marginally slower top speed at 15 miles per hour, versus Air's 16 miles per hour, and less range at 15 miles of range, versus Air's 16 miles of range, although a spokesperson for Bird told TechCrunch the battery is slightly larger in the Flex than the Air. Perhaps it's the "larger and more rugged build" of the Flex that equates bigger battery to less range.

Flex specs include street-tested front-wheel suspension, a 350W brushless Hall motor, a wider base, longer platform and 10-inch diameter puncture-proof tires. It also comes with an integrated LED display which shows speed and battery life. The Flex is foldable, and it weighs just under 50 pounds.

The Birdie Glow is pretty much the same as Bird's original Birdie, which the company launched in 2019, except that this one has light-up wheels. That'll get the kiddos! It's designed for children aged three to eight, and is thankfully not electric. The Birdie Glow will initially be available in Electric Rose but will soon be available in other colors like Sky Blue, Twilight and Jet Black.