The Rise of the Electric Scooter • Hacker News Board

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#41

Post by shafyy » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

eldenbishop wrote: post #38

I rode a non-electric kick scooter (Xootr) for three years working in downtown SF. It is by far the best form of transitional transport there is and superior to bikes for 99% of actual real world travel. It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking and more importantly suddenly made the entire city open due to how insanely efficient it was for "glueing" together various forms of public transport. I could hop from tran…

I've been biking for 2 years in SF and disagree that it's impractical for short trips. Why do you think that?

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#42

Post by raintrees » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

I watched the same battery technology improvement play out in tools at the hardware store. There are now whole kits for the mobile contractor they call "wireless"...

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#43

Post by ocdtrekkie » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:07 PM UTC

As a suburban dweller who doesn't go into the city much, it's still surreal to hear so many stories about the electric scooter craze, to know its happening thirty or forty miles away... And I've literally never seen it.

I do feel its a good companion to public transit in theory, though it still lacks everything I want from you know, just having a car: Somewhere to put stuff. I never commute light enough to live off a scooter.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#44

Post by taylorlapeyre » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

I wish they didn't look so silly to ride. I know that scooters will slowly become more ubiquitous and, as a result, will be considered more normal and less goofy to ride.

But for now, it just kinda looks goofy to a lot of people.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#45

Post by Notorious_BLT » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:10 PM UTC

AstralStorm wrote: post #23

TulliusCicero wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For rentable escooters, the consumer doesn't really have to worry about them being stolen. And they're easier to park than bikes.

By park you actually mean litter everywhere, as there are very few designated parking places, much fewer than for bicycles.

That's a city planning problem, though. Designated small-vehicle parking that isn't explicitly for bikes seems like a good idea to have. No reason bike storage should be bike-exclusive

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#46

Post by clairity » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

not sure where jeff got the the initial $800 price of the m365. even his camelcamelcamel chart shows a $600 ceiling. i bought mine at $500 and can confirm that getting it at $350 is a no-brainer.

as he says, it absolutely extends your range for all kinds of situations (yes, even carry one in your car). it’s not very rugged so put slime in the tires as he says and expect some other things to break. i disagree about taking it in stores—it’s awkward but totally acceptable in most places you’d ride a scooter to (grocery store, cafe, target, etc)

definitely looking forward to the pro!

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#47

Post by TulliusCicero » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:11 PM UTC

ses1984 wrote: post #26

TulliusCicero wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For rentable escooters, the consumer doesn't really have to worry about them being stolen. And they're easier to park than bikes.

What makes a rentable scooter easier to park than a rentable bike?

Scooters are smaller.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#48

Post by joefourier » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:12 PM UTC

mturmon wrote: post #27

Honest question: How do people lock these things if visiting a shop for a half-hour? (Edited to add: Sorry for confusion! I'm talking about an owned model like the one in OP, the Xiaomi Mi M365 - I looked at some product imagery and it wasn't clear if this was possible.)

I bring mine inside and wheel it around while I shop. It takes up about as much space as a trolley or pram, so it's never inconvenienced anyone.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#49

Post by lacker » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

How steep of a hill can you get up with these things? My street is pretty hilly and I would hate to shell out for a cool device that I have to lug the last two blocks to my house.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#50

Post by TulliusCicero » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:14 PM UTC

AstralStorm wrote: post #25

TulliusCicero wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with disabilities can't use stairs, should we stop building those too? It's okay to support a mode that only most of the population can use. There are still other modes, just like with stairs and elevators/ramps.

That's explicitly not what I meant. I meant that disabled people cannot use either. The scooters solve no problems bicycles already do not, not exactly even portability yet. They create problems of litter on sidewalks, trash generation due to damage (where rental bikes are typically fixable if damaged) and issues of safety as they're much less visible and people tend to not use the bell...

> That's explicitly not what I meant. I meant that disabled people cannot use either.

So what was the point of bringing it up then?

> The scooters solve no problems bicycles already do not

Sure they do. Part of the issue with bikes is a chicken and egg problem where politicians are hesitant to invest money into bike infra, because not enough people ride. And many people don't ride because of bad bike infra.

Many, perhaps most of the people riding escooters don't ride their own bike around, or wouldn't ride a rentable ebike, for whatever reason. That's why the scooters got uptake much more rapidly than rentable ebikes.

So once you have more people on modes that fit bike infrastructure, because of, say, the ease of use and accessibility of electric scooters, it becomes easier to fight for that bike infrastructure.