Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Four new Levy e-scooters are available for rental in New Ulm, but the Levy numbers are expected to increase before the end of the year.

NEW ULM — Electric scooter rentals are back in town, but under a new name.

The new e-scooters are called “Levy,” and are available for temporary rental within the New Ulm city limits. For the last two years, Bird e-scooters were available for rental during the warm months. This year the Bird scooters did not return after the winter, but Levy swooped into fill-in.

Levy e-scooters operate similarly to Bird scooters. To rent the scooters, a user unlocks them through a phone application. Once the Levy e-scooter is unlocked, push off with your foot and activate the hand throttle switch. The cost to rent is $1 and about 30 cents a minute

Unlike Bird scooters, Levy scooters cannot simply be left at any location a rider chooses to stop.

They must be left within certain drop-off locations.

The Levy app will include a map of Levy locations and approved drop-off sites.

The Levy e-scooters are faster than the Bird scooters, reaching speeds of 20 mph. The e-scooters are geo-governed to prevent higher speeds in certain parts of town. Levy scooters are limited to 12 mph on the bike trail. City regulations prohibit the use of sidewalks. Levy requires all riders to be 16 or older.

Levy is authorized to bring up to 200 e-scooters to New Ulm but is starting small. Currently, only four e-scooters are available in New Ulm and are parked downtown in front of the Chamber building. More e-scooters will be added throughout the year.