Elektromobilität: Ein Hamburger Unternehmer trotzt der Konkurrenz aus China

Florian Walberg, a Hamburg entrepreneur, is challenging the competition from Chinese companies in the e-mobility market with his new E-Scooter, the Egret. The 45 km/h model features a built-in seat and is made of aluminum instead of plastic. Walberg claims to have introduced the first premium model in the market, which is one of the fastest-growing sectors in mobility.

Walberg is one of the pioneers in the private E-Scooter market in Germany, which has seen a significant increase in popularity. The number of private E-Scooters on the road grew from 571,000 in 2022 to 1.36 million in the previous year. McKinsey mobility expert Darius Scurtu predicts that the European market for private E-Scooters could reach a value of one to two billion euros by 2030.

However, the market is currently dominated by Chinese brands Xiaomi and Segway. Walberg aims to prove that a German manufacturer can still compete despite this challenge. His journey began when he worked as a singer in a 90s boyband, a TV moderator, and tried his hand at music production, tour guiding, and other ventures. After a stint selling illegal scooters, Walberg began repairing them himself and eventually worked for a Chinese E-Scooter manufacturer.

In 2017, Walberg co-founded a working group with colleagues from Decathlon, Segway, Honda, and Toyota to establish technical standards for E-Scooters. The first draft was published in August of that year, and the technical standards were finally set. However, Germany still needed to decide on helmet laws, speed limits, and whether E-Scooters should be allowed on roads or bike paths.

Walberg continued to sell scooters despite being unauthorized, as he knew the laws would change in 2019 when E-Scooters were officially allowed on German roads. By the end of that year, his sales had reached nearly eight million euros, making his Egret brand the only serious player in the private E-Scooter market.