Metropolitan Police crackdown on illegal e-scooters

BBC reporter Tom Edwards recently joined the Metropolitan Police on the streets of London to watch them test seized e-bikes on a portable rolling-road adapted specifically for two-wheelers.

The technology is impressive.  Officers can pull over any bike they suspect is illegal.  Common giveaways  are use of speed, throttle operation, battery size.  They load it on the dyno (a dynamometer).  It tells them exactly how fast the bike can go.  These vehicles are legally limited to 15.5mph, but routinely travel faster if modified.  Those are crushed within 14 days of seizure.

This is outstanding police work. Commander Neerav Patel and his team have driven neighbourhood crime down 14% in 12 months, 35,000 fewer reported offences. Theft from the person down 23%. Robbery down 11%.

But I keep coming back to the same question.  What if the bike never made it to the road in the first place?  The dyno tells you what the bike can do after it's been modified and ridden.  A permission layer tells the bike what it's authorised to do before it activates.  Verified identity. Verified compliance. Verified authorisation.  Before the first wheel turn.  Not instead of enforcement.  Upstream of it.  That's the layer that changes the scale of this problem permanently.

35,000 fewer crimes is remarkable.  Imagine what zero illegal activations looks like?  That's what 'Tevver' is building, says Stuart Riddick, its CEO.