The company will relaunch with 400 Generation 3 e-scooters which it said had improved stability. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s concerns related to the Generation 2 scooters which it said had excessive braking force, which led to riders suffering serious injuries.

The Generation 3 scooter has a different design to its troubled predecessor and is equipped with both an electronic brake on the rear wheel as well as a mechanical drum brake on the front wheel. Lime has advised the ACCC that Gen 3 e-scooters do not run firmware which troubled the Generation 2 scooters.

Lime’s Mitchell Price said the company had made mistakes “but we learned quickly from them”.

The relaunch will also mean about 80 people will return to work.

Lime will also bring in new helmet technology, which will eventually mean rides won’t be able to be completed until the helmet is reattached.

“It’s to make sure every scooter has a helmet available at all times,” Price said.

He said there was an increased demand globally for “micromobility” because of concerns about public transport during the pandemic.

Lime has also increased its hygiene measures and will be cleaning the scooters twice a day.

Lime also recently bought Uber’s JUMP operations and that will mean riders will be able to hire e-scooters through both the Lime and Uber apps when the technology is adopted.

He said the new scooters would provide a more comfortable ride and said the issues with the scooters had been resolved in 2019 and the ACCC’s rebuke was an administrative issue.

The Generation 2 scooters are still operating in the US and New Zealand and Price said they were safe.