10 Reasons Why Electric Scooters Are Better Than Cars

If you are thinking of making the trip to your office with an electric scooter, we recommend to check out some of the best scooter brands. There are a few reasons why you should replace your car with an electric scooter. The price is way smaller for an electric scooter, you might get to your destination faster, there is no need for stopping at the gas station, and using an electric scooter is more environmentally friendly

The price tag 

Certainly, getting a new electric scooter is way cheaper than buying a car. Even if it’s a used car. Spending between $300 and $700 will get you a decent scooter. Not the best available model, but a scooter good enough for your daily commute to the office or school. The auto market experts state that the average cost of a car in the US is around $36,000. 

So a scooter might be 100 times cheaper than a car. So if you use your car for a short trip, an electric scooter might be the ideal replacement. However, if you have children or pets, the car might be necessary for your day to day life. But you can still use the scooter when traveling by yourself over short distances. 

General value depreciation

In general, electric scooters have a period of use of 2, maybe 3 years if you are taking care of them. Let’s say that you paid $600 for a brand new scooter. After 2 years, the scooter will be worth almost nothing as it depreciates at the cost of approximately $300 a year. Even if it loses half of its value every year, it is not a lot of money. 

Let’s assume the same situations takes place for the average new car. Your car would be worth $18,000 less after just one year so you would lose a big amount of money. However, the AAA says the average American car will lose around $3000 of its value every year.  Now if you are thinking $3000 is a big pile of cash, keep in mind the depreciation of the car is around 40% of the car’s running cost. 

Fuel efficiency and gas price

To compare fuel efficiency, we will use one kilowatt-hour of energy for each of the 2 options. The average car with an internal combustion engine will travel for approximately 0.8 miles. An electric scooter will travel for around 83 miles using the same amount of energy. 

So this little experiment shows that an electric scooter is almost 100 times more energy-efficient than a regular car. In the US, the average commute distance is 5 miles. If you use an e-scooter for this short trip instead of the car, the fuel cost will be 65 times smaller. 

Production carbon footprint

No matter how eco-friendly a vehicle is designed to be, there is always a carbon footprint produced during the manufacturing process. For a regular family car, 7 tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere during its fabrication. The amount of CO2 is even bigger for an electric car as it’s almost 8 tonnes. 

For e-scooters, the amount of CO2 produced during manufacturing is roughly 1% of the car’s carbon footprint. 

Required maintenance

There is almost no maintenance needed for a new electric scooter. You just need to wash it regularly, especially if you drove it in the rain. If you want your scooter to be running smoothly for a long period, the parts should be kept dirt and grime free. Also, make sure to check the tires so there is no debris sticking to them. 

During this small inspection, lift the wheels off the ground and give them a spin to check if everything is alright regarding the bearings. If there is some unusual noise coming from them, try to clean them and apply some lubrication.

There is a chance that you will need to buy a new drive belt every year but it doesn’t cost a lot of money. Also, replacing the belt takes little mechanical skills so you can do it by yourself or you can have a friend help you.

In general, people take their cars to a garage for maintenance. Even if you can do the work by yourself, it will take more time and the cost for the needed spare parts will be higher. According to the AAA, the maintenance cost for a car is around $1200 a year. 

Scooter and car insurance

Electric scooters are not required by law to be insured. However, you should check some types of insurance coverage as you might cause or get involved in accidents when riding the scooter. For cars, insurance is mandatory. The average cost to have a car insured is around $1400 a year. 

So you will save a lot of money if you can use an e-scooter for your trips and only rent a car when definitely needed.

Ease of use

There is no driver’s license required if you want to drive an e-scooter and learning how to use its commands takes a few minutes. If it’s your first time when using an e-scooter, we recommend choosing a less powerful one so you can drive it confidently. Furthermore, there is no need to worry about finding a parking space or an appropriate place to park your scooter. You can just fold it and take it with you inside the school or your friend’s house.

Spending less time in traffic

The US has some of the most traffic-congested cities. Los Angeles and New York are at the top of the list. Actually, half of the cities in the top 10 are American cities since Miami, Atlanta and San Francisco are included in this list. 

If you are a skilled rider, you can use your e-scooter to easily move through traffic or use the available bike lanes. In addition to saving money, you will also save time during your daily trips. This is why an electric scooter is a great choice if you work as a delivery man. Nevertheless, take note it is against the law to hold something in your hands when riding a scooter on public roads.

E-scooters are healthier than cars

Although it may seem like an odd affirmation since you don’t make any effort while driving a scooter, it is true. Sitting in traffic is bad for your general health. For example, in large cities such as London, traffic fumes are causing 10 times more fatalities than road accidents.

The situation is similar in the US as the polluted air is the 8th biggest killer. So it might be a good idea to roll up the windows and to turn off the fans when being stuck in traffic next time. Scientific research showed that a quarter of the exposure to these harmful particles takes place when stopping for a traffic light or to a junction. 

So it only makes sense that if you keep moving, you will be less exposed to traffic fumes. Since electric scooters don’t give out exhaust fumes, we can certainly say there are safer for everyone on the streets. 

If there would be more people using e-scooters for their trips around the city, there would be less pollution and fewer cars on the road. In time, this will make a great impact on the quality of the air.

The problem of the last mile

Initially, the last mile problem was specific to the telecommunication industry and later also became an issue for transportation. It represents the difficulty of getting people from a transportation hub such as the bus or railway station to their destination or from their house to the transportation hub. 

Many people preferred to use cars to solve this issue since it was more efficient. Nowadays, there are fewer parking spaces in a city, so you might be required to leave your car far away from your final destination. This problem only got bigger and more difficult in time, since local authorities choose to build shops or office blocks since they are more profitable than car parks. 

Cities are now taking a new form with more bicycle lanes, parking space or sharing platforms. In some cities, the traffic has been completely removed from some of the areas such as the city center or around big natural parks. So it makes sense to buy an electric scooter so you can get to your destination without having to worry about permanent or weekend restrictions.