Revel recycled its 3,000 mopeds to bet the company on EV cars

Revel is an electric mobility company running EV rideshare and fast-charging hubs, originally a moped-share service.

Shared mopeds were a dead end; electric rideshare plus the fast-charging infrastructure it runs on is the business worth scaling.

Revel started in 2018 with a Brooklyn storefront and 68 mopeds, growing into one of the most visible electric brands on New York streets. In 2021, after a year of fatal moped accidents and lawsuits, it kicked off an electric rideshare business with Tesla and Kia models.

In November 2023 the company announced it was shutting moped sharing: rides had fallen 30% since the previous summer, and it had already pulled out of Washington, DC and Miami in November 2022. The remaining 3,000 mopeds would be gathered up over the next couple of weeks for recycling, and about 67 staffers were laid off. What remained was a 500-car rideshare operating in New York City and New Jersey with service to JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, plus a fast-charging buildout with three of five announced stations now operational in New York.

The moped-share business that defined Revel since 2018 ended in November 2023; the last 3,000 mopeds were collected for recycling within weeks.

Demand said it first: rides down 30% year over year, after the moped service had already been pulled from Washington, DC and Miami.

The cars business shared Revel's electric DNA and had grown to 500 vehicles serving New York City, New Jersey and the major airports.

Charging hubs were the asset with compounding value — three of five planned New York stations were already operational.

The cut was clean: 3,000 mopeds recycled and roughly 67 staffers laid off rather than a slow wind-down.

Killing your founding product is survivable when the replacement shares your infrastructure — mopeds made the brand, but chargers and cars could carry it.

As of November 6, 2023, Revel was a rideshare-and-charging company: a 500-car Tesla and Kia fleet in New York City and New Jersey serving the airports, and a fast-charging network with three stations live in New York. The moped business that had defined the brand since 2018 was gone within weeks.