Mercedes-Benz will join the ranks of multibillion-dollar startups like Bird and Lime and bring out an electric scooter. The scooter is being developed in partnership with scooter manufacturer Micro.

Mercedes-Benz didn't give much detail about the model but said it would go on sale in "early 2020."

Electric scooters have suddenly appeared on city streets around the world thanks to the huge amount of venture capital flooding into the market, and players such as Audi launching their own scooter models.

But regulators and citizens have fought back against the vehicles, which can trip people up, are left around as litter, and have been involved in fatal accidents.

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Mercedes-Benz quietly slipped out an announcement that it's breaking into electric scooters.

The company announced the scooter at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week, but gave precious little detail. We first spotted the news via The Verge.

In a statement the company said:

E-scooters have only been allowed on German roads since June, and it is already hard to conceive of a traffic scene without them. These agile, electrically powered scooters are the perfect way to cover short distances quickly and without harming the environment.

The new E-Scooter in the Mercedes-Benz EQ brand family was developed in cooperation with the scooter specialist micro, and is specifically designed for the first or last mile, making it the perfect companion for those wanting flexible mobility solutions. Co-branded with micro, the Mercedes star and the EQ logo appear on the handlebar stem as a trademark for Electric Intelligence.

The firm didn't give any detail about the scooter's specs — its top speed, for example.

It also doesn't say where the scooters will be available, although the fact that the statement mentions the legalization of scooters in Germany suggests that Mercedes' home market might be the launch country.

Read more: 6 carmakers that are betting electric scooters and bikes — not cars — are the future of city transportation

The company also didn't release any full photos of the models, just two shots focusing on the scooters' wheels and the Mercedes-Benz logo. We can expect to see more of them relatively soon, however, as the two-wheelers are set for "early 2020" according to the statement.

Electric scooters have flooded city streets around the world, in part thanks the rise of startups such as Bird and Lime, which are funded by billions of venture-capital dollars.

Some cities have struggled to cope with the sudden arrival of scooters, with regulators worried about the vehicles littering pavements and streets, fatal accidents, and people using the scooters while drunk, among other issues.

Mercedes is far from the first traditional automaker to tap into the electric-scooter market. Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW have all brought out their own e-scooters.