E-Scooter

 Photo by Christina Spinnen (Unsplash)

Recently I had the pleasure to go on an E-Scooter ride. Well… technically I did not want to wait for the bus and I wanted to try an e-scooter to understand what everyone is so hyped about. Let me be honest, I did not understand why everyone loves the E-Scooter at first but now that I have tried it, I still cannot fully understand the hype. However, I can see the appeal of E-Scooters and in this article; I just wanted to write down a thought or two about E-Scooters since I am curious about how my opinion will change over time. I am fully aware that I am a bit late to the party since those rental E-Scooter has been around since the beginning of the Pandemic but I never got around to using them for several reasons. Full disclosure, this article is not like my usual articles but since my normal article collection is just a mess anyways, I believe that this article will fit in… somehow.

No waiting around

There are tons of advantages when one decides to take the E-Scooter instead of other transportation methods like walking, cycling, driving, or taking the bus. For instance, there is the fact that the E-Scooters don’t follow a schedule. If you would accidentally miss your bus you would have to wait another half an hour but with E-Scooters that is not the case. You can go whenever and wherever you want if there is an E-Scooter available for rental in your immediate surrounding. If not… whelp…

Leave and go

Unlike traditional bikes or not electric scooter roller´s, you can leave E-Scooters everywhere. Technically, not everywhere since there are restricted areas and places where an E-Scooter should not be parked. My point is that you don’t have to take the E-Scooter back home again. For example, you take the E-Scooter to the city centre. In the city centre, you happen to meet a friend who is willing to take you home again. Now you do not have to worry about your bike being left in public and all those concerns. You don’t have to wonder if the bike will fit in the trunk, you can just get in the car and go home.

Speed

Another thing I admired about the E-Scooter is how fast it is (if you would consider 20 km/h fast). At first, I thought the E-Scooter would be like 10 km/h or something close to the average walking speed of a human because that was the maximum speed I was expecting but that is not the case. The E-Scooter I rented can go up to 20 km/h and I was pleasantly surprised. This is so much faster than walking since a normal human being can walk roughly 7 km/h. An E-Scooter is roughly twice as fast. It is also not that the 20 km/h is the set speed because I might like adrenalin rushes and I don’t mind. Let´s face it 20 km/h is barely anything in my opinion but take someone with trauma relating to speed, for instance, they would beg to differ. The E-Scooter can let the user decide how fast or slow one wants to go, which is expected and yet at the same time surprising.

Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed and I have no idea how often I would mention that again but I just was. You have to understand, the reason I rented an E-Scooter is because I missed my bus. Honestly, I had no intention of catching it in the first place but that is a completely different story. What surprised me was the fact that on my ride home, I was ahead of the bus that whole time. Maybe it was because the bus has passengers and I don’t have to stop or maybe it was because I could take the roads and shortcuts the bus couldn’t. Either way, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the bus I missed was behind me that whole time.

Fun

It is also a fun way to get from a to b. Everyone around is just envious of your temporary ride because as mentioned above, it is the new hype even though they are not as new anymore. Maybe this is just my opinion but I also believe that one looks so cool on an E-Scooter. It is like the motorcycle for the license-less. You are the one in control. You don’t have to sit in the backseat and wait for others to chauffeur you around. You can go down roads the cars don’t have access to because E-Scooters are small. It is a controllable joyride not on the premise of an amusement park. Certainly not as thrilling as the fast rollercoasters but something. What is not to like.

Eco-friendly

The one big advantage that E-Scooters have over all other motorized transportation is the fact that it runs on battery. Unlike most cars, motorcycles, and busses, they do not run on fuel, which is just a fancy way of saying their usage does not contribute to global warming, which is a big plus. Let´s face it, it is 2021 and global warming is a problem that should be taken seriously. I mean it should have been taken seriously way before 2021 but I nor anyone else can reverse time, so let´s just run with this.

The environmentally friendly E-Scooter is the E-Scooter company’s big selling point since it is advertised everywhere. Either front and centre or small in the corner but the environmental line is there somewhere. That is somehow also the reason I desperately wanted to try them because sometimes I am just flat out lazy and not in a good way. I don’t have to feel guilty when driving or taking the bus. I know bicycles are an available option but my bike is currently indisposed so I have the perfect excuse to try them.

Sidenote, busses are technically environmentally friendlier than cars since fewer cars on the roads equal fewer carbon emissions but in comparison to E-Scooter, which run on battery and not fuel, busses can´t compare, unless they run on battery themselves, which they are currently not. I am for electric busses (electric transportation generally) since again environmentally friendly and I firmly believe that the local governments should take some steps to make that happen. Who doesn´t want a cleaner city to live in but that is beside the point right now.

The other side

Until now, I have made the E-Scooter sound great by only stating their benefits, I am fully aware of that fact. However, just like everything in this world, there are always more sides to the story. So what are the things I would want to point out…

Getting used to the difference

Well… there are a few things. First things first. E-Scooters are something that one needs to get used to. How heavy a rental scooter can be. How much you can accelerate. How to break. How to start the ride. This may be a lot to process for a first-time renter but getting used to is just a matter of time. The longer one may ride an E-Scooter the more one will get used to it.

The E-Scooter experience

The rental process is actually surprisingly easy.  You need to download the app. Give up some of your personal information and your payment details. Scan and you are good to go. Of course, E-scooter rental companies also provide a quick starter guide on how to use the scooter but that is pretty much it. They don’t really tell you how it feels to use one of their E-Scooter but that is me just nitpicking here. The experience for everyone is different.

At first, I thought that the E-Scooter could not go fast therefore I did not expect the E-Scooter to accelerate like that. It just felt like your feet are moving out from under you while you are being pushed back. You have to hold onto dear life otherwise you will fall. It did not take long to get used to but there still can be unsuspecting people out there like me.

E-Scooter design

Another thing I want to point out is the location of the acceleration button thing. The rented E-Scooter I used had the ‘gas pedal’ on the handlebar very close to the stem of the scooter. I don´t know if I held it wrong or if my hands are too small but constantly having to push down on the thumb gas pedal is a bit exhausting considering that the hand should not leave the brakes either. I just prefer the motorcycle system with the throttle and the brakes.

Standing

The standing part of the E-Scooter ride was not annoying or anything but, I just wanted to mention it. For one standing is not a bad thing. The standing made it quite fun. Unlike a non-electric scooter where one constantly has to bend one´s knees so the foot can reach the floor to push the scooter forward, the E-Scooter does not require that kind of exercise. However, I may be a motorcycle girl, even though I never rode one myself, I prefer to sit. Simply because, while standing I constantly had a feeling of falling backwards. Maybe it is because of the uneven acceleration and the amateurish control I had over that E-Scooter or maybe it is because I got used to motorcycles, I don’t know why I constantly have the feeling of falling.

Safety first

There is also the E-Scooter safety concern. Just like everything allowed on the road, bikes, skates, motorcycles, E-Scooters carry similar concerns. Should they be on the roads in the first place or should they only go on certain roads? The reason I am stating this concern is because multiple times I had to cross the road with the E-Scooter I was scared that the E-Scooter would just stop in the middle of the road with traffic surrounding me. Since the E-Scooter was unwilling to move without the accelerator, it was not easy to get it off the road.

Different feel

Another thing I want to point out is how one can feel how uneven the bicycle roads are. When you are walking on them, they don’t feel uneven at all but with bikes, skates or scooters, one will notice every pothole and unevenly laid brick. It is not just an E-Scooter problem but an issue worth mentioning anyways.

I remember how fun it was to ride down an uneven brick road as a child. Just how mini-me would just hold a note while riding down that road. How her voice would change with every bump. How the going up and down of the scooter felt meditative. The best brick roads were always the ones that went downhill. The good old time where an uneven road did not matter at all.

The forbidden areas

Then there are also the restricted areas and the places where parking is not allowed. Let me tell you a little of a story. I live in a no parking zone. A place where the E-Scooter, as the name already suggests is not allowed to park. Which has its perks. No scooters for miles and miles blocking the already tight sidewalks. It is great. However, I found out about the no parking zone a tad bit too late. I was already standing in front of my house with the E-Scooter preparing to call it a day and park it. Then comes the notification saying that I can´t park there.

At first, it was quite a shock but after the shock wore off, I thought that I could just park outside the no parking zone and I won´t say no to a few more minutes of riding since it was fun. Once I got out of the no parking area and I found an appropriate place to park, I got another notification saying that I can´t park in a restricted area or else I will have to pay a 25€ fine. The fine did not seem that bad considering how frustrated I already was but I took the E-Scooter out of the restricted area anyways.

I did not know that I lived in a no parking zone closely neighboured by a restricted area. I guess I am the only one to blame at this point since I did not know and did not pay attention when I looked at the maps indicating, where I could and could not park but as a first time E-Scooter renter, I did not know where to pay attention to.

After a moment, I got the E-Scooter to the spot where other E-Scooters were parked. This is when I realized just how un-manoeuvrable the E-Scooter was. It was able to be manoeuvred easily while in motion but once you get off the E-Scooter, the E-Scooter just immediately turns into a ton of bricks. Heavy and unmovable. At least I expected it to be easier and lighter since people always tell me how light E-Scooters are and how the weight of the battery has decreased exponentially, so I was just a bit shocked. At that point in time, I was at least one kilometre away from my house. Guess who had to spend twelve minutes walking back home again.

Honestly, I did not mind the walking that much. It was nice to strut down the streets again and show my neighbours who´s boss. The walking distance was also not the reason I was frustrated in the first place, the reason I was frustrated was because I saw that row of E-Scooters parked outside the restricted area on my way home. When passing them, I wondered if I wanted to park there and walk the rest home. I did not, therefore, spend more time (and money) to go back to that area outside the restricted zone, parked and walked home. I could have saved myself so much time if I would have just stopped and parked, instead of riding home, riding back again and parked.

It was somehow also embarrassing to pass the people who saw that whole fiasco. One moment, one was cruising around on a sweet ride. The next, one is walking. I don’t know about you but I was slightly embarrassed. It was also funny but embarrassing.

Price

There was also a matter of pricing but since the E-Scooter company has a monopoly on the town I live in I can only say respect. It was not a lot considering the time I spent to get from one forbidden area to the next. Honestly, I am blaming myself for that small price I paid since I did not look at the maps and the forbidden areas. Frankly, I can´t say that the E-Scooter is cheap or expensive. That is dependent on one owns budget but I just a little calculation in my head (who am I kidding? Comparing two numbers in one´s own mind is not calculating but I digress) and I personally found it worth it since the bus costs more. Not by a big margin or anything but it was cheaper.

One downside to that argument is that the bus also brings me to my front door. Now the question would be if one kilometre is worth that little more money, I need to pay or not. I save time. On the other hand, the E-Scooter was fun. I guess depending on the situation. What in that situation is more important time or money? An everyday dilemma.

The E-Scooter pandemic

Lastly, the E-Scooter pandemic. In my town, the E-Scooters became so popular that they started appearing everywhere. At the start, there were only a few and we envied anyone who got their hands on the rental E-Scooters. Then the company saw the profits they could make if they would place more E-Scooters in the town and suddenly E-Scooters everywhere.

Since they were new, tons of teenagers tried them out but once they were done with them, they were done with them. They just abandoned them, just like how a baby would abandon their toys after their play session, wherever they used them last. It was a mess.

After a year, the E-Scooter chaos was not that terrible anymore. The E-Scooter company enforced some rules and the people parked more responsibly. They are still everywhere but at least now, I can´t trip on them anymore. I guess that is generally how new things are perceived.

When the thing is introduced, the elite few of the younger generation would try it out, while the older generations are none the wiser. Then the supply meets the demand, the whole younger generation would try it out, while the older generation would look for reasons to hate that new invention. After the hype has settled, the generations just come to accept the new thing as it is. Nobody cursing its name and nobody flaunting it. (Oversimplification, not an actual model. More variables are influencing this kind of behaviour.)

Conclusion

This article is not trying to convince anyone of anything. Well… technically, I was trying to convince myself that either E-Scooters are good or bad but I failed miserably at that task. The logical part of me still have some doubts about E-Scooters but the casual part of me still believes that E-Scooters are fun. So… I don’t know but since this is real life nothing is truly good or bad, so why does this E-Scooter debate have to be?