UK e-scooter trials to continue to 2028

Trials of rental e-scooters, which began in 2020, are being extended until 2028, the Government has announced.

Simon Lightwood MP, minister for local travel, said on the ‘X’ platform that the trials would also be expanded to new towns “to learn how best to regulate them”.

The rental e-scooter trials launched in July 2020 and were initially intended to run until November 2021. Previously they had already been extended four times, and were due to finish in May 2026. The fifth extension enables them to run until the end of May 2028, with the DfT saying the extra two years will help fill evidence gaps and gather new learning around e-scooter safety, the impact of local area characteristics and how e-scooters contribute to meeting new Government missions

In December 2022, the first national evaluation of the e-scooter trials was published. A second national evaluation of the trials is now underway and is due to conclude in 2026. Private e-scooters remain illegal to use on public roads.