Advantages and Disadvantages to Buying an Electric Scooter
Buying an Electric Scooter
Electric scooters are amazing – that much we know for sure! But if you are considering purchasing your first e-scooter, it’s perfectly natural to want to balance the pros and cons before pulling the plug.
Compared to other modes of transport, PEV’s are still very new on the scene. As such, the information available on them isn’t as comprehensive as it is for more established modes of transport.
Read on for an in-depth and balanced look into some of the most important factors to take into consideration before buying an electric scooter.
What are the Advantages of buying an Electric Scooter?
1. Electric Scooters are convenient
E-Scooters are highly convenient compared to other modes of transport. You can start your journey instantly and don’t need to drive around looking for a car parking spot.
They’re also perfectly suited to short journeys where cars and motorcycles are significantly less practical or environmentally viable.
2. You don’t need a license (in most countries)
Unlike cars and motorcycles, electric scooters don’t require a license in most countries – which also means no spending potentially hundreds on lessons, tests and documentation like you do with a car!
Many countries also impose much lower age requirements on electric scooters, making them viable transport options for a younger audience as well.
3. Electric Scooters are easy to ride
E-Scooters pose little more of a challenge to users than riding a bike. This is a big contrast to other motorised vehicles like cars which are highly complex to use and require long and expensive training courses and tests.
They are also far less exhausting to ride than a regular bicycle, which is especially great for those who have health conditions that make riding a bicycle uncomfortable or impractical.
4. The Electric Scooter has many evolving safety features
Electric scooters are progressively gaining more and more safety features for peace of mind. Hand-operated acceleration control, rear-wheel brakes, ABS, headlights and tail-lights are just some of the features designed to keep you – and other road users – safer on the road.
5. Electric Scooters help to reduce motor traffic
By opting to use an electric scooter for short journeys, the amount of cars, motorcycles and bus users on the road will naturally decrease. This can help to resolve the problems of overcrowded roads, standstill traffic jams and massive environmental pollution caused by too much traffic.
6. The low environmental impact of an Electric Scooter
The car industry is slowly making the move towards electric, but most cars on the road are still fuel-based and will continue to be for some years to come.
Here lies one of the greatest strengths of electric scooters – by utilising batteries rather than combustion engines, they are inherently more eco-friendly, producing zero emissions and zero pollution!
7. Noise pollution is a thing of the past with Electric Scooters
Cars, motorcycles, buses… our cities are more overloaded with vehicles than ever before. With this comes a significant amount of noise pollution.
Electric scooters are almost silent, which gives them yet another major environmental advantage over other transport options, especially in urban areas.
8. The money you will save when you use an Electric Scooter
We all know how draining petrol and diesel can be on your pocket. One of the great benefits of electric scooters being electric is that they don’t require a single drop of fuel! This makes them considerably cheaper to run than other predominantly combustion-based vehicles like cars, motorcycles and mopeds – always a bonus!
Typically, you can get a 1 hour charge for less than 30p (GBP), which can take you up to 30 miles!* – not bad eh?
*Depending on the model, size of the battery, weight of rider and speed you ride at.
9. In comparison, Electric Scooters are cheap and easy to rent
Forget expensive rental cars – the ability to rent electric scooters in cities across the world is a huge boon for the e-scooter industry. Being able to rent an e-scooter for occasional journeys eliminates the need to invest in your own model and, depending on your usage, could prove to be far more cost-effective than getting taxis, buses, trams or trains!
10. Electric Scooters are portable, compact and easy to store
Have you ever tried folding down your car and storing it in the corner of a room?
Electric scooters arguably win over all other forms of transport in this respect – many models are compact and can be folded and stored, taking up a reasonably small footprint in your house or garage. They also aren’t going to require a parking bay when out and about or commuting to work.
As if this wasn’t enough of a boon, a lot of electric scooters are generally very portable as you can carry some foldable models under one arm – just try doing that with a car!
11. Low maintenance costs of an Electric Scooter
Between repairs, servicing, MOTs and part replacement, just maintaining a car can be prohibitively expensive. By comparison, electric scooters are much kinder on your pocket! There is no oil or filters to change, most maintenance tasks can be carried out at home – in turn eliminating costly garage visits – and there are no routine servicing or MOT costs to account for.
What are the Disadvantages of Buying an Electric Scooter?
1. Electric Scooter Price
Sure, an electric scooter is likely to set you back a bit with the best models running into four-digit figures – but compare that to the cost of a decent car and its maintenance!
e-RIDES offers various ways to pay including Klarna and Laybuy, so if you do fancy one that gives you more bang for your buck – we’ve got you covered!
2. Speed of an Electric Scooter
Depending on the model you buy, some electric scooters are capable of achieving speeds above 37mph (60km/h). These speeds do, however, tend to be reserved for more expensive models at the upper end of the market.
Even at 37mph, electric scooters are obviously not as speedy as other modes of transport such as cars, motorbikes and petrol scooters.
That said, for short journeys and inner-city rides where these speeds are more than sufficient, this isn’t likely to present a real problem.
If only the fastest will do, consider the Currus Panther, Dualtron Ultra or the Kaabo Wolf Warrior 11 PRO+ – all offering up to 50mph – and all available to buy at e-RIDES!
3. Electric Scooters aren’t designed for long journeys
Even the most high-end, electric scooters are not equipped for long journeys in the same way that many other motorised vehicles are. They come into their own on shorter commutes and trips, but if you need to head out of town or commute longer distances, you’ll be hard pressed to make an electric scooter work for you.
4. Some Electric Scooter models can be quite heavy
While electric scooters are generally quite lightweight and portable, some of the more advanced models can carry quite a bit of weight due to larger batteries and components. This can make them trickier to transport than a regular non-electric scooter, though obviously still far lighter than a car or motorcycle!
The lightest models e-RIDES have available are the E-Twow Booster GT or E-Twow Booster S+ weighing in at just over 12kgs and 11kgs respectively. Other models in the same weight range are our e-RIDES Edition e-Scooters also – light enough for you to carry easily.
5. Electric Scooters offer less exercise than a bicycle
Getting from A to B without exhausting yourself is an advantage in many cases. But for those who value bicycles and manual scooters for the exercise benefits that they offer, electric scooters require far less effort and therefore are not nearly as viable as a means of exercise.
6. The Battery of an Electric Scooter needs charging
Electric scooters are powered by a battery, which of course means that they require frequent charging. You will get a good amount of ride time out of a full charge, but that charge could take a few hours to complete depending on your model of electric scooter.
Compared to this, a regular petrol scooter with a combustion engine can be refuelled much quicker – though with obvious environmental and financial consequences.
If you’re looking for an electric scooter with the longest range, e-RIDES has you covered with the Kaabo Wolf Warrior 11 PRO+ (80 miles), Currus Panther & Dualtron Ultra (75 miles).
7. Some users leave them around everywhere
It’s great that you don’t need to find a car parking space for your electric scooter, but even this can lead to issues, especially for rental scooters. News articles abound of e-scooters being left abandoned in parks, by the side of roads and in other places – and littering by electric scooter is no light matter!
Most cities will seek to fine and prosecute those who behave in such an inconsiderate manner, but it is undeniable that such behaviour from those few individuals does little to reinforce a positive image of electric scooters to the general public.
Are Electric Scooters legal?
While many countries and regions across the UK, EU and USA don’t expressly forbid the use of electric scooters, rules and regulations regarding their use are inconsistent, incomplete and sometimes downright confusing.
This will surely improve as the world grows to embrace this relatively new mode of transport, but for now, it is undeniably far more difficult to research and follow the legal rules for electric scooters than it is for more established modes of transport such as cars and motorcycles.
For a breakdown of the laws surrounding electric scooters in a range of countries, check out our post “Are Electric Scooters Legal Where I Live?“
Here at e-RIDES, we are passionate about all PEV’s and their safe usage. This article is by no means exhaustive and we urge you to refer to the user manual for usage and maintenance for exact model requirements and statistics. Please ride responsibly and uphold the guidelines and laws of your geographical location.
For more information, please email us – info@e-rides.com
