Introduction
We’re all keeping a close eye on electric scooter legislation and with pressure mounting on the government to legalise their use in public, we expect it to be in place for early next year (check out our most recent article here). With electric scooters being legalised, a new method of commuting will be introduced into our society which will change how we commute, forever! When implemented safely in a city, electric scooters can reduce traffic congestion and intertwine with other transportation methods such as public transport. For an affordable price, e-scooters can replace cars and get you to work quicker with less operational costs (check out our article where we compare the cost of running a car versus an electric scooter). Below we outline five reasons why electric scooters are the future of commuting.
E-scooters Are Extremely Mobile
Electric scooters with a decent battery size (max range 20km +) can weigh anything from 12kg to 30kg making them light enough to carry. The majority of e-scooters are also foldable and depending on the e-scooter's size, they can be folded to fit in lockers and under desks in the workplace. An electric scooter can be charged anywhere there is a socket that you're allowed to use (aside from wet conditions of course!). Accessories such as the Wild Man e-scooter carry bags also store your belongings in a waterproof place while you're on the go. E-scooters are certainly the least cumbersome of vehicles in the micro-mobility space and offer a great alternative for those looking for an easy to use and mobile method of transport.
For Short And Long Commutes
Are you looking at your daily commute and wondering if it’s too long to use an electric scooter? For long commutes, e-scooters with an extended range are often the best option. An electric scooter such as the Segway G30 Max P has a huge max range of 65km and can easily cover the distance of most commutes. Even if your commute is much lower than the e-scooter's max range, it can give you peace of mind to know there’s always a bit more charge left in your battery in case you have to take a detour or forgot to charge it. With some planning, you could significantly reduce your travel costs by combining an electric scooter with a train/bus journey to get to your workplace.
Electric scooters excel at short commutes. Most electric scooters do about 25km/hr. The average person walks at about 5km/hr. For a commute that takes an hour, it could take a fifth of the time to complete riding an electric scooter. This means you could get to where you’re going in 12 mins, freeing up 48 mins for you to do more productive activities. Have a go at thinking about how you can free up your spare time by substituting an electric scooter for your commute.
Eco Friendly
We previously did a comparison of how much it costs to run an electric scooter versus a car. Along with the €4000 saving that an e-scooter had over a Volkswagen Polo, an electric scooter used very little electricity to charge. To be specific, a Xiaomi M365 Pro (Now the Xiaomi Pro 2) used 0.46 Kilowatts, or in monetary units, 11 cents per charge (as of March 2021). That covered a 35km commute by the way. That’s incredible value for the distance covered. A battery in an electric scooter is expected to reach 500 charging cycles (from dead to fully charged) and at that point, its performance will gradually diminish. That doesn't mean the electric scooter is to be thrown away, it's just not capable of the same output as a brand new e-scooter. Battery cells can be refurbished and/or recycled when they have degraded over time and an e-scooter’s battery can be replaced with a new one. Outside the manufacturing process, electric scooters don’t emit any carbon into the atmosphere. Where e-scooters can replace fossil-fuelled cars it is a step in the right direction for a more sustainable and green future.
Easy to use
Electric scooters are easy to use. There are some basic controls with an electric scooter; throttle, brakes and features activated through the dashboard. All the speed settings are generally activated by pressing the power button and are easy to toggle through. As noted previously electric scooters' have portable chargers that are easy to use and plug into sockets for power. Once you get your first spin on an electric scooter and get used to the speed, balance and brakes you’ll wonder how you ever got by without one. Not much more to note as they're really simple and fun to use.
Easy to maintain
Electric scooters need to be routinely maintained to keep them at optimal performance. Luckily it’s pretty easy to maintain them if you look after them regularly. If an e-scooter has pneumatic tyres (air-filled) they need to be pumped to the relevant PSI (check out our article here on PSI). If an e-scooter has solid or semi-solid tyres it’s worth keeping an eye on the depth of the threads and braking performance and looking to replace the tyres when they become worn. Brakes need to be routinely tuned and the e-scooter should be kept clean to avoid dirt and debris ceasing up the bearings and other parts of the electric scooter. There are only so many moving parts on an electric scooter, and once the maintenance is carried out there should be very few issues with them. A caveat to this is cheap electric scooters sold by unrecognised brands tend to have bad batteries and electronics which can cause the e-scooter to stop working shortly after they're bought. We've seen hundreds of these in our e-scooter repair centre so know exactly what brands should be avoided. This can be done by the owner with the right tools or can be carried out by an electric scooter repair technician.
Final Note
So there you have it, five reasons why electric scooters are the future of commuting. If you’re on the hunt for an electric scooter why not check out our range. We provide an unrivalled warranty on e-scooters with an in-house repair centre and deliver orders in 1-3 business days. You can pop into our showroom to chat with one of us or give us a call during business hours.
Check out our adult electric scooters by clicking the image below.
