Do you remember your childhood kick scooter? Many of us may recall these two or three-wheeled devices with nostalgia — whether you’re more familiar with the homemade versions cobbled together in the garage or the metal iterations of the noughties.
In the past few years they have made a huge comeback, reinvented as electric scooters for urban travel. They are now commonplace in many cities worldwide, particularly in those where the law has been prompt to regulate their usage and citizens quick to embrace them.
There is currently a wealth of e-scooters on the market available to own — however most of the noise has been generated around renting them. Since the launch of dockless rental scooters in California by Bird in 2017, the world seems to have gone mad for them and it’s not difficult to see why they have become so popular.
60% of all city journeys are less than five miles, with 70% of those short distance trips being made by car. E-scooters are ideal for short journeys and also complement other forms of transport, making them the perfect ‘first and last mile’ vehicle for getting from door to door.
Unless you are lucky enough to live right outside your nearest bus stop, subway, or train station, then you’ll usually have a little way to travel. If it’s a particularly long distance away, then a trip on foot can seem far from appealing. And what about when you’ve got an important meeting or you’re running late? You might choose to hail a ride instead, but this can quickly get expensive and involve a frustrating wait.
Being readily available and having a sensible range has made the e-scooter a popular transportation option among commuters. You can now say goodbye to hunting for parking spaces, waiting for Ubers to arrive during a surge, or being stranded because you missed the last bus.
Photography by Michal ParzuchowskiAn e-scooter might not be faster than a car on the open road, but urban roads are rarely clear. Scooters make it possible to beat traffic by easily weaving around people and other vehicles, so peak hour standstills can become a thing of the past.
No matter how difficult the trip, you never have to worry about arriving at your destination in a sweaty state, because no pedalling is required — no need to swap your soaked clothes or redo your makeup when you arrive, which means you can start being productive straight away.
Portability is another characteristic that is making personal e-scooters incredibly popular, especially with commuters. Is your workplace so far away that you still have to catch the subway or bus? These practical devices can easily be folded and are light enough to carry with you wherever your heart desires — unlike e-bikes, which feel like lifting weights and are harder to store. A personal e-scooter can be stowed compactly in the corner of your office, underneath your desk or in your home.
Being able to take your electric scooter anywhere also solves the problems of vandalism or theft, two risks always present with bikes. Ever had your bike stolen when you thought it was safely locked up? Storing your e-scooter indoors or taking it with you on the train makes security yesterday’s concern.
As the climate change crisis gets ever more urgent, more and more people are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Ever felt guilty in an empty car or bus? Most cars can carry up to five people or more, yet only regularly transport one or two. Even worse,140,000 Uber and Lyft cars are circulating on any given day in Manhattan, and around 40% of them are driving around unoccupied while circling to pick up their next customer, generating harmful emissions in the process. Isn’t this overserving, one might ask?
Cars are only getting heavier, with even the lightest being over 1,000 kg — nearly 100 times the weight of an e-scooter. This means that more energy is used to produce them and more fuel is required to move them. Interestingly, riding an electric scooter only accounts for 1–2% of the emissions of the average car.
With cities across the world beginning to enforce zero emission zones, there is a growing space in them for e-scooters. In the not so distant future they may become one of the only ways to move around quickly in these overcrowded areas.
Although there are obviously emissions involved in their manufacturing process, e-scooters produce zero emissions while operating, which makes them a much greener alternative to most cars, motorbikes and ridesharing. The fact that they are powered by electricity as opposed to fossil fuels means you’ll never need to worry about your city’s pollution controls.
Photography by Philipp BalunovicSome e-scooters are really cheap — in fact you can now buy them from your local supermarket. However, as the old adage goes, ‘you get what you pay for’ — cheap scooters are unreliable and are equipped with poor quality batteries that aren’t built to last. Buying a cheap electric scooter is almost guaranteed to get you back to your old commute within months, with the scooter collecting dust in a cupboard.
On the other hand, investing in a reliable e-scooter with good quality batteries, brakes and tires can be a very cost-effective decision. In large cities, a personal e-scooter will be cheaper than forking out hundreds in monthly public transport passes or ridesharing costs, and in the long run it will also be much cheaper (and easier) to maintain than a car or motorbike and involve no fuel costs.
Can standing on an e-scooter ride platform ever look cool? Whilst not everyone will agree, e-scooters seem to have become popular because they are a clever, trendy and fun way of moving around. We are still in the early days of development, so the most stylish designs are likely still to come, but so far there are loads of unique and varied designs and sizes on the market — so you’re certain to find a style that fits your personality. Which ones will stick around? Only time will tell.
Many of us are already familiar with kick scooters from our childhood days, so riding them fills us with nostalgia. For the new rider they are a lot easier to learn than motorbikes, skateboards and bikes, but if you have used a kick scooter as a child, riding the electric version for the first time will definitely feel easy and intuitive.
It’s easy to see why electric scooters are taking over the streets of the world’s major cities. Not only are they exhilarating ways of getting around, but they are perfect for short journeys. Their lightweight, foldable frames make them more portable than bikes or e-bikes and the perfect complement to public transport.
As well as being cool, cost-effective, convenient and hassle-free, electric scooters are also greener than alternative means of transportation, becoming the perfect replacement for the car and offering a potential solution to gridlocked streets and air pollution.
While you might still attract curious looks from those not used to seeing adults using them, electric scooters are a bold street statement and a trend definitely worth hopping on. If you are feeling self-conscious about riding one, remember that the first mobile phones looked ridiculous but now everyone has got one!
Electric scooters have been on the market for more than two decades now and public opinion has changed drastically over time. Though these personal electric vehicles have their detractors, they are becoming a more and more popular option for modern commuting. Here’s what you need to know about public opinion on electric scooters and how it has changed over time.
How electric scooters have been viewed historically
Mechanical scooters have been in use since the 19th century, having originally been made of wood. While motorized scooters arose shortly after this, in 1916, the first electric scooters started major production in the early 1940s, when French inventors Maurice and Albert Limelette opened SOCOVEL, a company that produced electric bikes as its main export but ramped up production of electric scooters due to their compact build and popularity. The first widely available e-scooters came to the market in 1996 from Peugeot. Different models and makers joined the market and as of the 2010s, e-scooters had become a major competitor in the electric vehicle market.
Originally, electric scooters were seen as little more than a novelty for the well-off, who could afford the expensive and inefficient machines. Indeed, they became associated with the “tech bro” image of upstart tech moguls in the early 2000s, which gave them a somewhat sour reputation. In 2018, companies innovated their scooter technology using lithium-ion batteries, which were more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, and by implementing dockless e-scooters for public renting. By making the scooter more available and accessible to a wider range of people, these companies caused a boom in the market that significantly improved the image of the e-scooter, making it a more popular choice.
Since then, the e-scooter has become more and more popular and has been seen as a potential solution to long-term environmental and commuting concerns.
Modern views on electric scooters
As of 2018, an average of 70.5% of Americans surveyed in 10 of the United States’ major cities said that they viewed e-scooters positively as an alternative mode of transportation. Still, the issue remains contentious; there are strong arguments both for and against the use of electric scooters on a city-wide scale.
The argument for electric scooters
Electric scooters have long been touted as an eco-friendly alternative to driving, and in some cases, this is very much true. The BBC released a report in 2020 citing various statistical pieces which note that in some areas of the world, up to 43% of commuters would have used private cars to get where they needed to go if public e-scooter programs had not been available to them, and many people reported that they were using their own vehicles less in general since gaining access to e-scooters.
Additionally, according to a report from Arizona State University in 2020, electric scooters were significantly seen as a more convenient and often safer transportation option in hot weather than walking; in this case, interviewed participants cited the fact that riding an e-scooter is often faster and less stressful on the body than walking, which can help reduce the risk for heat-related health conditions - a growing concern in a world affected by severe climate change.
Finally, bringing electric scooters into the commuting environment may bring some accessibility. Scooters do not require the pedaling that biking does and can be easier than walking for some people, which can make accessing public transport slightly easier for those with certain disabilities or issues of access such as distance from train or bus stations. They can also bring a bit of levity; e-scooters are still considered something of a novelty and their introduction to commuting can make it more fun, motivating people to be out and about more often.
The argument against electric scooters
Of course there are arguments against the implementation of electric scooters as a major mode of transport. Most of these arguments revolve around the mass implementation of e-scooters through services like Skip, Scoot, Bird, Lime, and others.
The first major point is the problem of longevity. As of 2019, most mass-use public scooters were lasting on average only a few months - six to eight being the most common lifespan. This meant that there were mass scooter graveyards creating more unnecessary waste. That being said, new designs are improving the longevity of mass-use scooters to more than two years in some cases. Even better, a personal electric scooter can last up to five years if properly maintained.
The next concern is that of safety; e-scooters are among the smallest vehicles in the shared commuting space, making them more difficult for large vehicles like cars and buses to see and avoid, which may lead to more accidents. There is also the issue of many scooter riders not wearing the appropriate safety gear; some reports note that as few as 4% of riders are wearing helmets.
Some experts argue that the rise in personal electric vehicle use could actually push for safer roads, though. They note that cities with high personal vehicle traffic can be incentivized to invest in walkable infrastructure, which would improve access not just for scooter riders, but also for cyclists and pedestrians. The issue of helmets might also be resolved with accessibility adjustments; simply making people aware of the dangers and their comparability to cycling may increase helmet usage, as may simple legislation around safety requirements for personal electric vehicles.
Conclusion
Electric scooters aren’t perfect, but they are a massive step in the right direction. With appropriate innovation and time, these vehicles can help solve some of the major issues surrounding transportation in our world.
Interested in using an electric scooter, but not sure where to start? Alien Rides has you covered with a wide range of scooters for every need from some of the top manufacturers in the industry. Explore our selection of machines with the guarantee of high-grade testing to make sure you’re getting the best possible product.
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