E-scooter hire in Plymouth: Beryl’s prices, bays and where you can ride
You can hire an e-scooter in Plymouth from Beryl, the only operator, in a government trial that began on 28 July 2026. It costs £1 to unlock and 22p a minute, so 15 minutes cost £4.30, and Beryl lists no night-time stop. You must be 18 or over with a driving licence, ride on roads and cycle lanes but never on pavements, push the scooter through the Slow-Go Zone on and around Armada Way, and start and end every ride in a Beryl bay.
Plymouth e-scooter hire: Beryl, in a trial since July 2026
One company, Beryl, rents e-scooters in Plymouth, alongside the e-bikes it has run there since March 2023 for the council’s Connect Plymouth scheme. The council signed its decision to go ahead with the trial on 1 July 2026, the government added Plymouth to its list of trial areas on 7 July, and the scooters went on hire on 28 July. Beryl funds the trial, about £1 million, at no cost to the council.
Beryl lists 200 e-scooters and 510 e-bikes in Plymouth. At 9.18am on Friday 23 October 2026 the map of Plymouth showed about 160 Beryl e-scooters: a snapshot, not the fleet size. The map shows e-scooters only, not Beryl’s e-bikes.
How long will it run? Beryl’s Plymouth page says “until March 2028”, subject to review. That is Beryl’s date for Plymouth; the government’s national trials, which make hire scooters legal, run separately until May 2028. The council’s pages give no end date.
Can you ride at night? Yes. Beryl’s hire-hours page (July 2026) limits night hires only in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and in Brighton, and our map still showed Plymouth scooters at 2.26am on Saturday 17 October 2026.
How much does a Beryl e-scooter cost in Plymouth?
Beryl charges £1 to unlock and 22p a minute for its e-scooters in Plymouth: its Plymouth page and open data agreed on 23 October 2026. Minute bundles work on e-bikes and e-scooters alike, and with them you pay no unlock fee.
| Option | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Pay as you ride | £1 unlock + 22p a minute | 10 minutes £3.20, 15 minutes £4.30, 30 minutes £7.60 |
| 50-minute bundle | £8 | 16p a minute, no unlock fee; valid 1 month |
| 100-minute bundle | £15 | 15p a minute; valid 3 months |
| 200-minute bundle | £28 | 14p a minute; valid 3 months |
| 400-minute bundle | £52 | 13p a minute; valid 6 months |
Validity periods are from Beryl’s open data; its Plymouth page lists no day pass. Beryl’s e-bikes cost £1 to unlock and 17p a minute, from age 16. New to hire scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.
Students get 25% off bundles, but not pay-as-you-ride, with the code STUDENT26 until 31 July 2027, if their Beryl account uses a university or college email: the 100-minute bundle then costs £11.25.
Are e-scooters legal in Plymouth? Age, licence and fines
Hire scooters are legal because Plymouth is a trial area. You must be 18 or over and hold a full or provisional driving licence (category Q, included in every UK car, moped and motorcycle licence). You photograph both sides of your photocard and take a selfie in the app; Beryl doesn’t accept paper licences. Before your first ride you must complete a safety tutorial in the app, the council says.
Visiting? Beryl’s Plymouth page says “supported international licences may also be accepted”, as did the council’s launch news, but the page’s FAQ and Beryl’s rider requirements ask for “a valid UK driving licence”. The law accepts a full EU or EEA licence, or another country’s full car, moped or motorcycle licence if you entered the UK in the last 12 months, never a foreign provisional one: check yours in the app before you travel.
| Rule | What it means | Set by | If you break it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pavements | Never, nor in pedestrian-only areas | The law | £50 fixed penalty |
| Speed | 15.5 mph at most; the motor stops helping above it | The law, confirmed by the council and Beryl | – |
| City-centre Slow-Go Zone | 3 mph: get off and push | The council; Beryl’s geofence applies it | The power cuts at the edge |
| Phone | Not in your hand while riding | The law | £200 and 6 points |
| Drink and drugs | Drink-drive law applies: 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood | The law | Court, a driving ban, possibly prison |
| Passengers | One rider only | The law and Beryl | Beryl can suspend or ban your account |
| Headphones | No headphones or earbuds | Beryl | Beryl can suspend or ban your account |
| Helmet | Recommended, not compulsory | The law; the council and Beryl urge one | – |
The national rules are in our guide to e-scooter law in the UK.
A private e-scooter is illegal on Plymouth’s roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in its parks. Riding one means a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points for having no insurance, and since 29 June 2026 police can seize a vehicle ridden anti-socially without a warning first. On 22 July 2026 Devon & Cornwall Police said that under Operation RideSafe, illegal e-scooters in Plymouth will be seized and crushed and their riders prosecuted.
Where can you ride? Armada Way, the Hoe and the Barbican
Beryl says you can ride “throughout Plymouth” inside the operating area the app shows, on roads and on cycle lanes, shared paths and bus lanes signed with a bicycle. But rides start and end only in its parking zones: the city centre and the Western Corridor, and a separate zone around Derriford.
In Beryl’s data on 23 October 2026, the main parking zone reaches from the Hoe, the Barbican and Cattedown north to Mutley Plain and Peverell, and west through Stonehouse and Devonport to St Budeaux; Mount Batten, Plymstock, Plympton and Crownhill lie outside it.
The Slow-Go Zone lies “in the city centre, on and around Armada Way”, the council says: the power cuts to 3 mph and you get off and push. Beryl’s data draws two zones there, “Pedestrianised Core” and “Armada Way”. On a street map they take in Armada Way, New George Street, Cornwall Street, Old Town Street and Bedford Way, with the Old Town Street and Mayflower Street bays inside. That is our reading, not an official list: the app shows the exact edges.
The Hoe, the Barbican and Royal William Yard have no special zone in Beryl’s data, and Beryl suggests riding to all three. Keep to roads and paths where bikes may go. The Yard has no bay of its own, so end your ride at Admiral’s Hard, about 200 metres from its main gate.
Beryl bays in Plymouth: start and end every ride in a bay
Plymouth is a dock-to-dock scheme: every e-scooter ride starts and ends in a Beryl bay, shared with the e-bikes. Beryl counts 70 bays, and its open data showed 70 in use on 23 October 2026; the bays it lists in Saltash, Plympton, Plymstock and at Mount Batten were out of use. If a bay is full, Beryl says you may leave the scooter next to it. Park it upright, tap “End Ride” and wait for the confirmation.
| Place | Bay in Beryl’s data | Docks |
|---|---|---|
| Plymouth station | Saltash Road, about 200 metres south | 8 |
| Coach station | Mayflower Street, in the “Armada Way” zone | 9 |
| Devonport station | Acre Place | 4 |
| St Budeaux | St Budeaux Square | 8 |
| The Barbican | Barbican Landing Stage; Southside Street | 6; 5 |
| The Hoe | The Hoe; Hoe Road; Cliff Road, Hoe Promenade; Citadel Road | 8; 6; 8; 8 |
| Royal William Yard and the Cremyll ferry | Admiral’s Hard | 8 |
| Torpoint Ferry | Torpoint Ferry | 8 |
| University of Plymouth | Roland Levinsky Building; North Hill | 6; 8 |
| Derriford | Derriford Hospital; George Park and Ride | 5; 10 |
Beryl’s Plymouth page lists these extra fees:
- Outside a bay: £10.
- Outside the zone: £25 each time you lock there, plus £80 if the scooter is still outside after 24 hours.
- Left unlocked: £10.
Ride a scooter left outside a bay back to one and Beryl gives you 10 minutes’ credit. The Plymouth map shows which bays have scooters now.
Plymouth station, the ferries, Derriford and the university
Every ride ends in a bay, so dock before you board a train or ferry.
- Trains: GWR bans e-scooters from all its trains and stations because of the battery fire risk, and asks anyone bringing one to leave. Dock at Saltash Road and walk to the station.
- Ferries: the Mount Batten and Cremyll ferries carry bicycles, but neither the council nor the ferry companies mention e-scooters. Dock at Barbican Landing Stage for the Mount Batten ferry, at Admiral’s Hard for the Cremyll ferry to Mount Edgcumbe (back there since 19 July 2026, says Plymouth Boat Trips), or at the Torpoint Ferry bay.
- Derriford: the hospital, the district centre, Alpha Way and George Park and Ride have bays in a zone of their own; the Marjon University bays were out of use on 23 October 2026.
Students: the University of Plymouth lists e-scooters and e-bikes among the items you may not bring into its student accommodation; we found no university rule on hire scooters. Arts University Plymouth also has a bay.
Heading into Cornwall? Beryl also rents e-scooters in Falmouth, Newquay, Penzance and Truro, a separate trial area. See e-scooter hire in the UK for all 21 areas.
Did you know?
- Almost to the moon and back. Plymouth’s Beryl e-bikes covered more than 685,000 km in almost 297,000 journeys from March 2023 to July 2026, Beryl says: “almost to the moon and back”, in the council’s words.
- Checked every few rides. Beryl checks each scooter every 5 to 8 rides and services it fully every 1,500 km, with help from Bikespace, a social enterprise based in Devonport.
- Built for the hills. Beryl’s scooters have push-button indicators, a phone holder for navigation and electromagnetic brakes “designed for hills and wet conditions”.
Questions
- How much is a Beryl e-scooter per minute in Plymouth?
- 22p a minute, plus £1 to unlock, so 15 minutes cost £4.30. Minute bundles bring it down to 16p a minute (50 minutes for £8) or 13p (400 minutes for £52), with no unlock fee.
- Where can I park a Beryl e-scooter in Plymouth?
- Only in a Beryl bay: Plymouth is a dock-to-dock scheme, with 70 bays in use on 23 October 2026, from St Budeaux to the Barbican and at Derriford. Leaving a scooter outside a bay costs £10, outside the zone £25.
- Can I ride a Beryl e-scooter on Armada Way?
- Not at speed. The council’s Slow-Go Zone covers Armada Way and the area around it: the power cuts to 3 mph and you must get off and push until you are out of it. The Beryl app shows its edges.
- Do Beryl e-scooters stop at night in Plymouth?
- No. Beryl lists night-time limits only in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and in Brighton, and our map showed Plymouth scooters at 2.26am on 17 October 2026.
- Can I use a foreign driving licence on a Beryl e-scooter in Plymouth?
- Possibly. Beryl’s Plymouth page says supported international licences may be accepted, but its general rules ask for a UK licence. The law allows a full EU or EEA licence, or another full licence within 12 months of arriving, never a foreign provisional one. Check in the app before you travel.
- Can I ride my own e-scooter in Plymouth?
- No. A private e-scooter is illegal on roads, pavements and cycle lanes and in parks: a £300 fine and 6 points, and Plymouth’s police crush the ones they seize.