How To Hire An Electric Scooter In Lanzarote
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Lanzarote’s tourist towns have quickly turned into electric scooter hotspots with tourists and locals zipping up and down the main strip at speed.
If you’ve seen these scooters while on your holiday in Lanzarote and wanted to learn more, or perhaps rent one, here’s what you need to know.
How To Hire An Electric Scooter In Lanzarote
All electric scooters in Lanzarote are currently operated by LINK.
As such the first thing you’ll need to do is download the LINK Scooters mobile application which is available for both iOS and Android.
Once the app is downloaded you’ll need to allow it access to your location. This is so the app can see where you are, and where the scooters are relative to your location.
Pro tip: This means you’re going to need a sim card with data when travelling abroad. We use Three which has gone up in recent years since the UK left the EU, but is still one of the cheapest and most reliable options.
Once you’ve permitted the application to use your location a map will load with some additional buttons.
Go ahead and click on ‘JOIN’ to sign up for an account using your phone number.
Note that you will need to verify your phone number so it’s important you can receive text messages and that you enter your phone number correctly.
Once you’ve gone ahead and verified your phone number you’ll be asked to add a payment method.
Once you’ve gone ahead and added a payment method you can either top up your wallet – ideal if you want one transaction to your bank and then use a pot of money for all your journeys.
Pro tip: You will be charged in Euros so make sure the bank card you choose to use doesn’t charge you for foreign exchange purchases & offers a favourable rate.
Alternatively, you can skip ahead and pay as you go.
The map will then reload and at this point you can browse the map for scooters near to your location, hitting the refresh button at the top to get real-time data.
Alternatively, if you’re already next to a scooter or have gone ahead and found a scooter you can go ahead and unlock it by clicking the large scan button at the bottom of your screen.
At this point, LINK will request permission to use your camera.
This is required in order for you to scan the QR code on the scooter you’re looking to hire so go ahead and approve and then hover your camera over the QR code on your scooter.
Once the QR code has been scanned the scooter will be unlocked and ready to ride.
At this point, you’ll be charged a pre-ride hold of €3 which is deducted from the total cost of your trip.
If your trip comes in at less than €3 then you’ll be refunded the difference.
To begin using the scooter simply lift up the stand, and begin manually pushing. Once you’ve gained a small amount of speed pick up your back foot that was pushing and gently pull round on the right handle.
Be sure to use smooth motions on the handlebar to avoid whiplash and falling off.
You can reference the LINK mobile app at all times to see the amount the journey has cost so far, the remaining electricity charge on the scooter, and where you’ve been.
How To End Your Electric Scooter Hire
Since you are charged for every minute you’re on the scooter it’s incredibly important that you end your journey correctly to avoid being overcharged.
However, before you end your journey you need to find somewhere safe to park the scooter.
Parking the electric scooter in an undesignated area will result in a fine.
Scooter parking locations are highlighted on the map on the LINK mobile application in busier areas. However, most backstreets are fine provided they are within the boundaries that LINK scooters can be used.
Once you’re happy with your parking location pull over and pull down the scooter stand.
Ensure that the scooter is not on the road, and not blocking a pedestrian walkway.
Then go ahead and hit END on the screen.
This will trigger you to take a photo of the scooter to demonstrate you’ve parked it safely.
Pro tip: If the END button doesn’t work when you press it you’re likely trying to park in an undesignated area. Head for one of the ‘P’ signs on the map and try again.
Once the photo has been submitted a report for your journey will show you how much you have been charged.
How Much It Costs To Hire An Electric Scooter In Lanzarote
Hiring an electric scooter in Lanzarote is relatively cheap and doesn’t go on the distance you’ve travelled and instead the amount of time you’ve hired the scooter for.
The scooter costs €1 to unlock and then €0.22 per minute to ride.
As such for 51 minutes on an electric scooter in Playa Blanca I was charged €12.22 while for 11 minutes in Puerto Del Carmen I was charged €3.20.
These prices are inclusive of the sales charge which is in addition to the base rate at a cost of 7%.
Where Can You Go On Electric Scooters In Lanzarote
You can ride pretty much everywhere and anywhere within the towns of Lanzarote on an electric scooter.
Boundaries are shown on the LINK mobile application and mainly limit how far back (away from the main strip and tourist area) you can go, rather than how far left and right along the beach you can travel.
In fact, in the case of Puerto Del Carmen, you can hire a scooter and travel all the way from the marina in the old town right up, past the airport in Arrecife and onto the aquarium in Teguise – a total distance of more than 23km!
If you go outside of the boundary set by LINK the scooter will begin an alarm and the mobile application will alert you to turn around.
If you continue outside of the boundary you will be charged an additional fee or the scooter will begin shutting down.
However, I found that given the flexibility of where you can travel on these scooters I never came close to hitting one of the boundaries.
Health & Safety Tips For Renting An Electric Scooter In Lanzarote
I can not overstate enough that these scooters go incredibly fast, up to 15 miles per hour in certain settings and therefore can be incredibly dangerous.
As such it’s essential that you take proper health and safety precautions when riding an electric scooter on the island as in some cases an accident may not be covered by your travel insurance provider.
Helmets
A helmet is recommended, however, in most cases, you’ll struggle to find one with the scooters or to hire separately.
Therefore unless you’ve bought your own helmet, you’ll likely be going without – an additional danger that’s going to require you to be even more cautious when riding.
Gain Confidence
Gain confidence before gaining speed. These scooters can go super fast, so just ensure that you’re confident and have full control of the scooter and the different controls onboard before speeding off.
Go With The Flow
Go with the flow of traffic.
Again, arrows on the cycle lane are likely to point you in the right direction to ensure you’re on the course but this is a good thing to remember if you can’t see any cycle sign
Don’t Bring Large Bags & Suitcases
It should go without saying, but travelling on scooters with any large bags, suitcases etc is ill-advised since you’ll struggle to maintain balance – especially at speed.
Go At A Speed That Suites You
Go at a speed that suits you. Just because the scooters can get up to 15mph doesn’t mean you need to drive at 15mph.
Be wary of your scooter controls. When I hired one of the electric scooters in Playa Blanca it seemed to have a sticky acceleration bar.
This meant that I had to manually move it back to slow the scooter speed down rather than the scooter itself automatically retracting back into a neutral setting.
just back from 2 weeks (july 22 )in playa blanca , these green scooters are every where, was curious what was the story with them
In Playa Blanca just now. Good write-up but using these Link scooters is pricey for what they are… Might as well just walk. Even taking a taxi is cheaper for two people.