Electric scooter as the personal transport of the sandbox

Now around us, there is new vehicles electric scooter which is perceived more as a toy for fun than transport. But perhaps for quite a short time there is a change in attitude electric scooter and other easy and affordable electric devices. For convenience, perhaps, is to combine them all by one name – personal portable electric transport.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of using a personal electric transport, calculate the approximate cost of use, and reflect on it, we could use it as a utilitarian transport, and not to just go to a day in the park.

There are two main scenarios for the use of portable personal transport like electric scooter:

1. We need to get from point A to point B. All the way, we pass on our personal vehicle. Everyone has their own preferences with regard to the maximum possible distance, suitable weather, mood, fatigue. My personal experience is this:

• We need a zero temperature
• the absence of strong precipitation
• good mood

Then, the normal distance for me is about 15 kilometers from the city that I can be happy to overcome a bike or electric scooter, preferring a transport vehicle or a subway. Repeatedly I traveled this route:

2. We need to get their point A to point B, the distance between them does not allow to move comfortably on your personal electric transport – too far, too bad the weather is not prepared infrastructure (for example, there is only a highway roadside without alternative ways of the detour).

In this case, the path is divided into three sections A-B B-C and C-D, where A-B and C-D – are areas where we walk “on their own” and B-C – is the area where we were lucky subway, monorail or train.

Actually, such a use case – this is the path by which every day in the big cities to get to work the majority of those who cannot / do not want to go there by car.

Requirements to the electric scooter, depending on the use case will be different. If you want to move in the first scenario, then, in general, will almost do not care what our vehicle weight and portability (unless you touch features parking, the availability of lift home, etc.) On the other hand, is important to the overall ride comfort, mileage on a single charge and a top speed. Most likely, the best means of transportation under the first scenario is a fully electric bike battery with a large and powerful engine.

For the second scenario, it becomes the very important change in the very possibility of public transportation, so the weight and collapsibility are more important parameters than the maximum range and speed. The optimal means then do not look great, lightweight and foldable design: the electric scooter.

The calculation of value in use

Here I want to say at once that the calculation rather hypothetical, this is due to the fact that complete statistics could not be found on the personal resources of various electric scooter vehicles. For the calculation, I’ll take an expensive and high-quality electric scooter, the owner of which I am. To treat it as a “spherical horse in a vacuum,” I will not specify the model and the manufacturer consider the characteristics and price.

• Battery capacity – 500-watt hours
• Maximum speed – 30 km / h
• Run with a single charge (under greenhouse conditions, zero temperature, not a lot of climbs, there is a strong wind) – 35 km
• full charging time – 2 hours
• Weight 11 kilograms
• Quickly folds to a very compact state

From electric scooter just yet breathes reliability and I am seriously looking forward to 600 full cycles of use. What goes down before – I do not know, let’s see: maybe it will be a battery, can be the wheel or shock absorbers. It turns out $ 100 for a cycle or if the pass for 25 km between charges, then to 0.05$ per kilometer.

The cost of electricity is negligible in this case: the battery capacity in half a kilowatt hour, even if we accept as a charging efficiency of 50%, makes the cost of a charge equal to 0.04$ on the most expensive tariff, that is, not more than 3% of the share value.

Comparison of the use of other methods of transportation: private cars, taxis, taxi / bus / trolley bus

Personal electric scooter

With a personal electric scooter, of course, to compare the most difficult – the cost of using different cars can vary considerably. If we consider the cost of use in the daily budget car traveling at a very approximate formula: (fuel cost) x2 when the same amount of money that we spend on fuel is deposited on the MOT, insurance, replacement car for a new one.

Total one km is 0.0875$.

According to the subjective impressions of the trip at a distance up to 5 km clearly faster than by car (where the loss of time occurs on the start / warm / leave the car park / park) and the more faster public transport (where you have to walk to the bus stop, wait, walk from the bus stop) .

In my opinion at a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the average rate would be about 20 kilometers per hour: the time lost at traffic lights and pedestrian subways. Of course, it is highly dependent on driving style and road conditions.

The average speed of movement of the car in Moscow is 55 kilometers per hour, plus a night and the Moscow Ring Road and central lanes during the morning or evening rush hour is not enough detailed parameter.

According to, again, personal observations in those moments when the traffic lights accumulate as many cars that they do not have time to pass one traffic light cycle, the movement of a scooter becomes faster than the car.

Conclusion of the electric scooter

With a few assumptions, it can be argued that the movement in the electric scooter cheaper and comparable cost time in a metropolis with a car, taxi and public transport.

Dear compact models can be used for both typical scenarios (such as a trip from point A to point B, and a trip where personal transport is used to overcome the “first” and “last mile” to the speed of public transport in the middle).

Cheaper or specialized models may be effectively used to solve only one problem – or rather long trip from point to point on a heavy resource electric bicycle with a large maximum speed, or, on the contrary, only a short trip in style “to the metro and the metro” more simple electric scooter or hoverboard.

Source: Triadmotion